Two Worlds
by Rixel
Summary: Penny flees the Wizarding world she knows and loves to live in hiding in the muggle world. However, hiding only works for so long. T for language that may happen. Artie/OC
1. Chapter 1

"Avada kedavra!"

There was a crack of green light that bolted across the room. Penny's head snapped towards the direction of the light, praying it would hit a wall. Her eyes widened as she saw a tuft of black hair drop to the ground. The girl the hair belonged to was running around a crumbled column. The spell had missed her.

Penny turned, wand in hand, towards the original caster, but the Death Eater simply vanished in a black wave of smoke. As she started to run after him, the ground below her shook. Hogwarts was being destroyed and she needed to get out of there.

"Hurry! Hurry!" A ghost appeared behind her, wailing her hands in the air. "Outside! Outside! They're out in front!"

Penny wheeled around and dashed towards the front doors. The front corridor had a huge gaping hole in the top of it. Stones were still trickling down from it. She almost ran right past a large pile of rubble. Almost. Before she did, she noticed a long streak of red that trailed out. Not blood, but hair.

Fearing the worst, Penny flicked her wand, pulling the rubble up into the air and tossed it to the side. Underneath lay not her sister as she feared, but a rat with strands of red hair thrown about it. It was a trap! She spun around, hoping to catch whoever it was before they got her, but no one was there.

"Hurry! Hurry!" The ghost was behind her again, edging her towards the door.

Penny turned to go towards the front when she saw her sister on the other side of the hallway. Smiling to herself, she started to run towards her best friend. As Penny opened her mouth to shout out her sisters name, she heard a voice from behind her. That all too familiar crack of green light whizzed past her ear and down the hallway to where her sister stood.

Penny woke up with a scream stuck in her throat. Her body was covered in sweat. She clutched her heart, breathing hard as she tried to push the nightmare away from her mind. When would it end? The war was over months ago, and she still couldn't stop dreaming about it. Dreaming about her sister...

She pushed the covers back and jumped out of bed. Going back to sleep would only bring the nightmare back and she couldn't dare think of that now. Not when she was going to start a new school. A new school in a different country. A new school in a different world, it seemed like. A muggle school. Penny frowned. The idea of going to a muggle school wasn't hers and she didn't like the idea. But with Hogwarts closed until the renovations were complete, and the fact that she probably couldn't ever go back there with the memories she had, there weren't very many other choices.

At least, those were the reasons she told herself. The real reason wasn't something she could handle yet. With Voldemort dead, the war was over. That's what everyone said. So why did her dad disappear a week later? And why were there strange Death Eater marks left around her old town? And why did her neighbor's daughter end up dead on the sidewalk? Being a half-blood, Penny couldn't dare to think of the implications everything had. She was sticking with the thought that Hogwarts was closed and this was the next place on the list to be.

Pushing the thoughts and memories away, she got ready for her first day at school.

The hallways were narrow and crowded with kids. Metal lockers slammed and rubber shoes squeaked on the floors. There was nothing floating in the air above her head, no pranks spells being cast and nothing magical looking in this school that had been built all too recently. No ghosts, no uniforms, nothing that felt natural. It didn't feel like home. It felt more like a modern dungeon.

In order to fit in, her mother had bought her a few new outfits. They weren't as stylish as some of the kids looked, but at least she wasn't wearing a sweater vest or anything. American movies had taught her that much at least. Not wanting to stand out, she'd worn a simple pair of dark jeans and a grey t-shirt. Her mother had put her long red hair back into a plain ponytail. Hopefully she'd drop down to being invisible. That was the magic of muggle American schools after all, wasn't it? The ability not to stand out, not to be noticed? That's what Penny needed right now. That was the whole point of being in hiding.

As the first bell rang, the hallways started to clear. It was much easier for her to find her way towards her first class this way. Penny marched along the halls until she found the first circled door on her stationary map. Math. Penny groaned to herself and pushed opened the door.

The classroom was loud and unruly. She was shocked to see how kids were behaving. If she'd acted like that back at Hogwarts, she'd probably gotten Umbridge style detention! Swallowing her shock, she walked over towards the teachers desk and cleared her throat.

"Yes?" The teacher, a fat balding man with pale eyes, looked up at her with distaste. "Just sit down already, will you?"

"I-I have to get this signed." Penny held out the paper she received from the front office. She guessed American's didn't trust their student to show up to class on the first day. Or didn't trust them to find the classes. It would be easier if the maps were magical.

The teacher groaned and snatched the paper out of her hand. After he scribbled something illegible onto the sheet, he shoved it back into her hands then grunted for her to leave. Penny bit her lip and turned to face the classroom.

The kids were starting to settle down and sit in the desks. Penny wasn't sure where to sit. There weren't many options available. She saw 3 desks that were open. Not wanting to make a scene, she darted for the closest one and sat down, keeping her eyes fixed on the desk in front of her. According to a scratched in scribble on the desk, Mr. Denots was a dweeb. Penny pulled out her class schedule to find out that her new Math teacher was in fact Mr. Denots. What the heck was a dweeb?

The class was incredibly difficult for her. Penny barely managed to stay up with the teacher. She'd never had any advanced mathematics before, and the only things she really knew were what her mother tried to teach her as they were fleeing England. Not much of it stuck with her. As the class ending bell rang, Penny let out a sigh of relief. She gathered her notes and shoved them into her bag, praying she'd somehow be able to pass the class.

"You're new, right?"

Penny's head snapped up as a voice came from in front of her desk. A tall boy with dark hair and eyes was clutching a bag over his shoulder and looking down at her. She swallowed. So much for being invisible from the start.

"Yeah." She nodded, trying to put on an American accent. "Penny Jensen."

"Oh, well hey. I'm Finn Hudson." He held out his hand.

Penny looked at his hand for a second. Making friends was a bad idea. Still, being a bitch might be worse. She took his hand and shook it for half a second before letting go.

"So, uh," Finn glanced around the room, which was quickly emptying. "Can I help show you around or something?"

Penny suppressed a sigh. She had to admit, a guide would be nice. And maybe having one simple friend wouldn't hurt. After all, it's not like this Finn was a Death Eater spy or anything, he was just trying to help out the new kid.

"Sure." Penny said, getting to her feet.

"Cool." Finn smiled. "Do you need to go to your locker or anything?"

"No." Penny didn't even know where her locker was. Her bag had all her books and one giant notebook to write everything she could inside it. Muggles were so inefficient.

"Are you sure?" Finn raised an eyebrow as Penny struggled to put her overweight book bag on.

"I'm fine." Penny grunted, adjusting the bag. She took the horrible map out of her pocket and unfolded it. "It looks like I have English next." At least it was a subject she actually knew.

"Ah." He looked slightly disappointed. "Ok, come on."

**This is my very first fanfiction. I know doing a crossover isn't the smartest thing for your first one, but I had the idea and decided to just go with it. I've always wanted to write one, so I figured I should stop wanting and just do it. I know Artie wasn't really in this chapter that much, but he's in later ones. Anyway, any comments or feedback would be great. Thanks!**


	2. Chapter 2

The rest of the day didn't go badly, or at least as badly as she thought it would. She didn't get shoved into a locker or have an assembly called to point out the new kid. In fact, she went by mostly invisible. A few kids introduced themselves to her and Finn kept showing up after class to show her to her next one. Penny realized that having Finn around was a good thing. He was much more handy than that silly map.

On the way towards Spanish, her last class of the day, Finn stopped at his locker to switch out his books. "I'm actually in your Spanish class," he said with a smile.

"Ah." Penny replied. Having him take her class to class was nice, but if she had to sit next to him and try to come up with muggle conversation for an entire period she thought she might just crack. Still, Spanish would be easier than her last class – science. That was just a nightmare. Penny felt so lost and out of place she thought her head was going to explode.

A boy in a wheelchair came up beside Finn's locker, stopping right next to him. "Hey Finn." The boy said, taking quick glance over at Penny. "Are you ready for today?"

"Artie, hey." Finn shut his locker. "Yeah, I guess. Have, uh, have you meet Penny?"

Penny froze. Great, now she was being introduced. This shouldn't be happening. People who keep a very low profile aren't suppose to be introduced to others! She took in a deep breath and looked over the kid. Okay, so he was in a wheelchair, in a sweater vest with glasses. Somehow she couldn't see talking to him would be any danger for her. Not to mention the fact that there wouldn't be a wheelchair needed if he was from the wizarding world. Then again, that could be a trap. Uh. She needed to stop putting so much thought into it. The movies warned her that being new would draw attention. Penny smiled. "Hi."

"Hi, I'm Artie." The kid in a wheelchair said back. "You're new?"

She nodded.

"Nice to have you. Are you coming after school with Finn?"

Penny blinked, confused.

Finn's face grew red. "Oh, uh, no. She's not my... I mean, it's not her, I haven't-"

Artie chuckled. "Relax Finn, it's not a big deal."

"Oooookay." Penny's accent slipped a little at her confusion, but the boys didn't seem to notice.

"I actually found this guy, Daniel. He's on the soccer team." Finn mumbled.

"Okay." Artie turned in his wheelchair. "See you then."

"Bye." Finn waved, then turned back towards Penny, embarrassed. "Sorry-that was-he didn't mean anything weird by it."

"I... didn't really care?" Penny said. She had no idea what either one of them was talking about. If she asked, that might only encourage Finn to be friends with her.

"It's just, a glee assignment, you know." Finn said as he started to walk towards the Spanish room.

"Glee?" Penny asked. Never before had she ever heard of the word.

"Yeah, you know. Show choir club, thing." Finn said, embarrassed again.

Penny shook her head. She had no idea. Hogwarts didn't have any clubs for singing. She pictured portraits singing, but in the muggle world their pictures didn't move, so that couldn't have been it.

"You don't know what a show choir is?" Finn laughed. "Where are you from?"

Penny's face went red. Crap. This was something she should have researched then? A show choir? It never showed up in any of the movies she watched for research on American schools. How could it be that important then?

"Actually," Finn stopped, as if the idea was something that just came to him. "Where are you from? I can't believe I haven't asked you that."

"Idaho." Penny said quickly. Her mother had given her a nice little back story that wouldn't raise too many questions.

"Oh." Finn seemed a little confused at her answer, but didn't ask anything more. He opened the Spanish room door for her.

Inside was the typical chaos that Penny had grown used to by now. She walked up to the teacher, a little unnerved that Finn walked up with her. Before she could speak, Finn spoke up first.

"Hey, Mr. Schue." Finn said. "This is Penny, she's new."

"Well, nice to meet you Penny. I see you've already made friends with Finn. Nice choice." Mr. Schue had a mop of blond hair that Penny thought was odd, but she kept that comment to herself. Most of the kids here had strange clothes and hairstyles. It actually had her miss the Hogwarts uniforms.

"Hi." Penny said, handing her paper to him. He sighed it, then did the worst thing that happened to her all day.

"Hey class!" He clapped his hands, quieting the class down. "I'd like you all to say hello to our new student here, Ms Penny..." He leaned down towards her. "What's your last name?"

Penny's face went bright red. Every other teacher in the school was happy with the thought of dismissing her or avoiding eye contact. Why did he make her stand in front of the class? "Jensen." She said through clenched teeth. Stupid muggle.

"Penny Jensen!" Mr. Schue pointed to Penny. There was a mumble of hellos and his from a class that didn't seem half as interested as the teacher. "Now come on guys! Is that any way to treat a new student?" There came a slightly more louder grouping of mumbles, which seemed to satisfy him. He then turned back to her. "Why don't you tell us a bit about yourself?"

Damn it all. Penny clenched her fist to the side of her thigh. She knew this could happen. It was in a couple of movies she saw. Still, she didn't want to go through with it. "I'm from Idaho."

"Idaho!" Mr. Schue laughed. "Wow, that's far from Ohio. What brought you here?"

"My mom found a new job." Penny said.

"Oh, well, nice to have you Penny. Why don't you sit down next to Finn since you two already know each other."

Penny followed Finn to her new seat, cursing the stupid muggle teacher. She already hated him.

**I'm finding myself very excited about this story and will write more very shortly. However, two chapters in one night... in one very late night... I should really get to bed.**


	3. Chapter 3

"So, Finn, is this your assignment?"

After class a boy walked up between Penny and Finn, blocking the aisle so Penny couldn't leave. The boy was dressed differently than the other boys, but Penny couldn't tell why. Maybe it was the sequined belt around his waist. She thought it was strange, but Finn didn't seem put off by it so she decided not to care about it.

"Uh," Finn looked over at Penny, his face going red again. "No. This is the new girl, Penny. I've got that Dan kid, from soccer, you know?"

"Ah." The boy touched his finger to his chin, looking Penny from head to toe. The way he looked at her made Penny uneasy.

"Penny, this is Kurt. Kurt, Penny." Finn said, more as an afterthought.

"Charmed." Kurt stuck out his hand. Why did they always want to shake hands? It was odd. Penny took it, but didn't hide the disgust in her face.

"Oh, I see we have another hater in the school. Wonderful." Kurt said, noticing her grimace. "At least try to keep the slushies out of my hair, okay?"

"What?" Finn said, looking between the two of them. "No, no Kurt, she's not, I mean. You're not, right?" He looked over at Penny.

Now Penny was completely lost. "What?"

"You know, hate people, like Kurt?" Finn seemed uneasy

"Um, what?" Penny said, loosing her accent once more. "I don't get it."

"I'm gay." Kurt said, practically spitting it.

"Kurt." Finn sighed.

"Oh." Penny blinked, regaining composure. "Why would I care about that?"

"See?" Finn said, putting a hand on Penny's arm. "She's just new. Relax."

Penny looked down at Finn's hand and brushed it off. Always with the touching. "It's time to go home now, right?"

Kurt, who looked like a mixture of embarrassed and disappointed shook his head. "Not for Finn and I. We have glee."

"Ok." Penny shrugged. Kurt was still in the way to keep her from leaving. "But I can go?"

Finn put his arm out and tried to push Kurt off to the side, but Kurt stopped him. "Can you sing?" Kurt asked.

"What?" Penny asked.

"Kurt don't." Finn said.

"I'm just asking!" Kurt grinned. "I haven't found anyone yet."

"It's her first day..."

"So?" Kurt turned to Finn. "It's not a big deal. You have a soccer player, right? No one there is going to expect her to stay."

"I don't know." Finn sighed.

Penny cleared her throat. "How about you stop talking about me like I'm not here."

"Come to glee club with me." Kurt said, smiling. The embarrassment was gone out of his eyes, and his request seemed rather genuine in excitement.

"What?" Penny said. Apparently that was her favorite word for the day.

"It's this assignment we have." Finn blurted out. "We have to bring someone that isn't in glee for the day. It's a pathetic attempt at recruitment, I think."

"Oh, so you want me to go and sing?" Penny blinked. That didn't sound like a low profile thing to do. "I'm sorry. I can't."

"You can't sing?" Kurt asked. "Or you can't go to a glee club meeting with someone dressed five times better than you?"

"I-what? Better than me?"

"It's his thing." Finn rolled his eyes.

"I... I can't." Penny sighed. It was a club. A club meant people. It meant standing out and being noticed.

"Come on." Kurt pouted. "One afternoon. If you hate it, you never have to come again, I promise."

Penny looked over at Finn for help.

Finn shrugged. "It would save me the misery of Kurt's whining after Schue chews him out for not doing the assignment."

"The Spanish teacher is the glee club teacher?" Penny asked. Somehow, that seemed really strange to her. She was putting them off, and she could tell it was starting to annoy them. Great. Her mom wouldn't be home for hours yet, and Penny didn't like the idea of sitting at home alone without being able to do magic. But going to a glee club meeting meant people. "I don't think I can. I'm new, I can't start-"

"Exactly the reason you're coming." Kurt grabbed her hand and wrapped it around his arm. "How are you going to make new friends if you don't go out and meet them!" He looked back at Finn. "Finn, grab her bag, will you? We'll meet you there."

"Wait, I don't think this is a good idea!" Penny stumbled as Kurt pulled her towards the door. "I-I can't sing!" Which wasn't true. She could carry a tune, which wasn't horrible, but she surely couldn't sing with an American accent. That wasn't something she practiced.

"It's fine." Kurt waived his hand in the air. "I just need to pass this assignment. Just sing horribly for 3 bars then sit down."

Penny groaned to herself. Somehow she'd managed to get herself into this mess in less than a day.

**Another day, another chapter. Hopefully I won't stay up too late working on more tonight. **


	4. Chapter 4

Kurt and Penny walked into a room unlike the other classrooms she'd been in that day. There were no desks in the room. There were three large uplifts along the wall, making it easier for those sitting in the back rows to see. There were a few chairs, but the most noticeable difference was the piano and band that were in the room. It was actually nice. Nothing like Hogwarts, of course, but the presence of music and lack of desks did help her feel better.

Kurt dragged Penny over toward a group of girls sitting up in the back. He dropped her down in a chair, then turned to the girl he was sitting next to. He gestured toward Penny. "What do you think, Mercedes, sea foam green or deep sea blue?"

The girl turned and looked at Penny, putting her hand to her cheek as if she was thinking. "A red-head, Kurt? I don't know. We've never done one of those before."

Penny's jaw dropped. "What?"

"You really need to stop saying that." Kurt took a finger and tapped Penny's jaw back closed. "It makes you sound like a broken record."

"I'm thinking more blue." The girl said.

"Hm. Maybe some mauve. And that ponytail has to go." Kurt nodded.

"Why is she scowling at us?" Mercedes asked.

Kurt shrugged. "She does that. I'd scowl too if I was wearing that shirt."

"I... like the way I look." Penny said, unsure of herself.

"Really?" Kurt said. "Because you kind of stand out in that. It's horrible."

Penny's heart quickened. Did he just figure out what her worst fear is? "Ok." She said, a little too quickly. "But nothing too outlandish."

Mercedes high-fived Kurt before turning back to Penny. "We do excellent work, don't worry. I'm Mercedes, by the way."

"Penny." She said, tucking a loose hair behind her ear. There were too many people here. Now she'd agreed to have them change her hair. Somehow she didn't think she was achieving the invisible look here. Too bad she couldn't just take out her wand and apparate. She felt like that would be the best thing possible.

After more people came in, including Finn and his guest, Mr. Schue closed the door and sat down on the piano. "So nice to see you all did your assignment! Even you Brittney. Sort of."

Everyone turned to look at a blond girl who had a parrot on her lap.

"It's my Nana." The girl said quietly.

"Alright!" Schue clapped his hands together. "Let's get this started! Who wants to go first?"

Penny watched as the other kids got up. Each pairing was so strange. The one that was in the glee club sang wonderfully, while their 'assignment' sang horribly. Brittney's parrot was better than half of them. Half way through one horrible rendition of "Time after time", Kurt leaned over and patted Penny's shoulder. "See? You can't be that bad!"

That reminder disheartened Penny. She couldn't sing as well as the other glee kids, but she certainly wasn't as bad as the ones everyone had brought in with them. But she still couldn't sing in front of them. Not with an American accent. She turned towards Kurt. "I can't do this."

"It's okay to be nervous." Kurt answered. "No one here is going to care. Besides, I know you can't be as bad as them."

"I... I can't do this." She repeated.

"Relax." Kurt patted her hand. "Listen, we will sing anything you want, any way you want to. Then it's over with. Deal?"

Anyway she wanted? Penny's mind raced with popular British songs that Kurt would know the lyrics to. "The Beatles?"

"Penny Lane?" Kurt laughed as Penny scrunched her nose. "Ok, how about 'Hey Jude'?"

Penny thought about it for a moment, then nodded.

"Artie, how about you?" Mr. Schue asked the boy in a wheelchair.

Artie wheeled in front of the piano, followed by a shy looking boy. The boy had black clothes and black hair. He also wore black makeup that seemed to cover most of his eyes. "This is Brian. He's a freshman and likes to sing... heavy metal."

"Hey, what's up?" Brian waved his hand. His voice seemed a little high pitch for heavy metal music.

There were some giggles from over by Brittney and another cheerleader.

"Ok, so let's see what you got." Mr. Schue clapped his hands together.

Artie opened his mouth to speak or sing or something, but before he could, Brian started screaming. Not singing, screaming. There were definable points of change in his voice, so it was obvious he was trying to sing, but that wasn't singing. In fact, Penny was amazed her ears weren't bleeding. Most of the kids covered their own ears. Nothing Brian shouted sounded like words of pitch of any sort. Artie didn't even try to do anything. He simply closed his mouth and sat there, staring at Brian in utter confusion and shock like everyone else.

Once Brian finally stopped screeching, he took a low bow, then left the room. Artie watched him go, then wheeled back over to the group. "Sorry, everyone," he mumbled.

"No, thanks Artie. That was... different." Mr. Schue said.

"Someone needs to put him out of his misery." One of the cheerleaders said.

"That just leaves you, Kurt." Mr. Schue said. "And Penny, our brand new student."

Penny hated him even more.

Kurt got to his feet, pulling Penny along with him. When they got to the front of the room, Penny felt weak. She was suppose to blend in unnoticed and now all eyes were fixed on her. Her hand twitched, wanting to pull out her wand that wasn't even there.

Kurt put a hand on her back. "We're going to sing at the same time, since she'd a little nervous." He looked over at her. "You ready?"

Penny bit her lip. This was normal, right? After all, everyone else in here had done this same thing. Blending in meant doing whatever anyone else did, right? She swallowed, then nodded.

The piano started, and Penny closed her eyes. If she imagined she wasn't here, if she pictured herself back in Hogwarts, in her Ravenclaw common room, then she could do this. Yes, she could do this.

Hey Jude, don't make it bad.

Take a sad song and make it better.

Remember to let her into your heart,

Then you can start to make it better.

Hey Jude, don't be afraid.

You were made to go out and get her.

The minute you let her under your skin,

Then you begin to make it better.

And anytime you feel the pain, hey Jude, refrain,

Don't carry the world upon your shoulders.

For well know it's a fool who plays it cool

By making his world a little colder.

Na-na-na-na-na Na-na-na-naaaaaa

Penny was happy to hear Kurt ending the song short. She really didn't like having to sing in front of everyone. Still, she couldn't help but noticed she enjoyed singing with him. It was nice to sing along with someone that wasn't her sister. The thought of her sister saddened Penny. The room filled with applause and she opened her eyes, surprised to see everyone looking at them with smiles on her face. She looked over at Kurt, who was just beaming.

"And you told me you can't sing." Kurt teased.

Penny bit her lip. She couldn't sing with an American accent. That she hadn't lied about.

"Nice job guys. So Penny, guys, what do you think?" Mr. Schue said.

"I vote Penny."

"Penny."

"Oh please, totally Penny."

Penny smiled., unwillingly liking the attention for the moment.

"Sounds like everyone likes you, Penny." Mr. Schue said. "Welcome to glee club!"

Oh crap.

Penny's heart sank down into her stomach. What did she just do!

**I felt guilty writing out the lyrics to the song. Whenever I read songs, they never have the same impact as listening to them. *shrug* Oh well, I did it. So there.**


	5. Chapter 5

Penny flopped down onto her bed and stared up at the ceiling. This house smelled weird. It was all stucco and fresh paint. She missed her old home, her wizarding home. This place, like the school, felt uncomfortable. She was completely out of place in Lima. Especially after the events that happened at the school, more than ever she longed for home.

She heard a door shut on the other side of the house and figured her mother was home. Sure enough, a few moments later there was a knock on her bedroom door.

"Yeah." Penny grumbled.

Her mother opened the door. Penny had always been her mother's daughter. Both of them had the same deep red hair with pale blue eyes. Her sister had red hair, too, but she shared their father's brown eyes. Penny missed brown eyes ever since they've both been gone. It just seemed like the house was too blue lately.

"How was school?" Her mother asked.

"I don't want to talk about it."

"That bad, huh?" Her mother walked across the room and sat down on the foot of her bed. "You make any friends?"

"I'm not allowed to, remember?" Penny said, bitterly.

"I didn't say that." Her mother looked slightly hurt. "I just said to keep a low profile. You can have friends. In fact, not having any friends might make you stand out too much." She sighed. "I know this is hard for you, Penny. It is for me, too. There's so much at this new job that takes hours to do that if I just had your father..." Her smile wavered for a second, but she regained her composure. "Muggle's drive me crazy."

Penny smiled at that. It was always funny to hear her mother complain about muggles, especially since she was one. "I met a few kids. They made me go to this singing club after school. It wasn't a big deal, just something they had to do. An assignment or whatever."

"Oh, a glee club!" Her mother's eyes widened. "I didn't know you were interested in that! I was in a glee club in high school!"

"You were?" Penny sat up. Her mother didn't talk much about her muggle life before marrying her dad.

"Mm-hm." Her mother stood up. "By the way, I almost forgot. They neighbor's asked us over for dinner tonight. You better get ready."

Penny looked down at her clothes then back at her mother. "I have to change?"

"No, that's fine." Her mother smiled. "They have a teenage boy. I just thought you might want to wear something a little more... nicer."

"Mom!" Penny threw a pillow at her mother.

"Oh, Penny, grow up!" Her mother laughed as she walked to do the door. "Seriously, though, we're leaving in 10 minutes."

"I just got home!"

"As did I," her mother said. "You don't see me complaining. Ten minutes. Be ready." Her mother shut the door behind her.

Well, at least her mother didn't seem to care about the glee club thing. Penny took that as a good sign. Maybe joining a club wouldn't be too bad. She'd sort of be blending in if she was in a club, right? The logic wasn't all there, but Penny decided to go with it. If it didn't worry her mother, she wouldn't let it worry her.

The house next to theirs was an older one level yellow home. There was paint peeling on the window sills and a garden that looked like it came out of professor Sprout's hair, which made Penny laugh. She liked the house. It had character. Not as much as her old house, but at least this place looked like it was used and not built last summer.

Her mother knocked on the door. A few moments later a man answered the door and ushered them in. "Evening Patricia. This must be your daughter, Penelope."

"Penny." Penny corrected him. She hated Penelope. It sounded like the name of a pig.

Her mother smiled. "Yeah, this is Penny. Penny, this is Mr. Abrams."

"Hi." Penny waived.

"Why don't you come in the living room. I think Jenny is still cooking." Mr. Abrams lead the two down the hall to a larger room that had pictures all over the walls. It was very homy looking, nothing at all like Penny's new home. She found herself liking it even more.

Her eyes glazed over the room until they fell down to the two boys sitting on the couch. Actually, only one was sitting on the couch. A little 8 year old boy. The other boy was sitting in a wheelchair.

Penny's breath caught in her throat. Artie?

"Hey, Penny." Artie waved at her.

"Oh, you've already met?" Mr. Abrams said.

"Dad, she kinda goes to my school." Artie rolled his eyes.

"Ooo, Artie has a girlfriend!" The little boy said.

"Shut up, Jason." Artie punch the kids in the arm.

"Dad!" Jason shouted.

"Alright you two." Mr. Abrams gestured for Penny and her mom to sit down.

Penny did so, but she didn't feel so comfortable anymore. When her mom told her that a boy went to her school, she pictured some senior boy she didn't know and wouldn't have to deal with. Never did she image it would be someone she already met, and from glee club no less.

"How was your first day at school, Penny?" Mr. Abrams asked.

Penny's eyes clouded over. Why did she hate that question so much? "Fine."

"She actually came to glee club with us today." Artie mentioned.

Penny glared at him, perhaps a little more menacing than she intended. He seemed to flinch.

"Yeah, she mentioned that." Penny's mother beamed. "I was in glee when I was a kid. I'm so excited she decided to do it as well."

"Well, I haven't really decided yet-" Penny started.

"Hahaha, Artie's girlfriend is a loser, too!" Jason laughed.

"Jason!" Mr. Abrams snapped.

"It's okay, dad." Artie said, looking at Jason. "He's just jealous because he can't sing."

"Pft, whatever." Jason folded his arms and sunk back into the couch.

Everyone sat around for nearly a minute in silence before Artie's mom came into the room.

"Hello everyone!" She said, cheerfully. "Dinner's just about ready if you want to sit at the table!"

The adults and Jason jumped up and shuffled into the dining room. Penny lingered behind and walked over towards Artie. "Sorry. If I'd know it was your house, I wouldn't have come tonight."

"Why not?" Artie asked, a twinge of hurt in his voice. "Did I upset you?"

"No, I just didn't mean to cause problems with your brother." Penny said. She wasn't really sure what she meant, now that she thought about it.

"It's fine." Artie said. "He's a jerk anyway. Just ignore him."

"Ok." Penny bit her lip. She used to feel the same way about her sister at times, but now she couldn't imagine thinking that now. She turned to head towards the others, but Artie stopped her.

"Were you serious before? About not deciding if you're going to join glee?"

"Oh, well..." Penny sighed. "There's a lot of factors that I'm not sure about."

"We could really use you."

Even though it was a simple statement, it struck a chord in Penny. She glanced down at her feet. "I'll think about it?"

"Fair enough." Artie shrugged, then wheeled off towards the dining room.

**Had the worst day today. It was awful. I didn't think I'd be able to write tonight - but I did. And it made me feel LOADS better. Yay! Anyway, no ones commented or anything, so I'm going to take that as I have no critical spelling errors or strange plot jumps. Stories are weird like that. In your head, they are epic. On paper... eh. Oh well. I'm really enjoying this and that's all that matters. Thanks for reading!**


	6. Chapter 6

"So, Penny, how was your first day at school?"

Penny cringed. They hadn't been sitting at the table for five minutes and already Artie's mother was jumping in with the horrible questions. "Good."

"Just good?" Penny's own mom chirped in. "I think you'd have more to say after your first day in a new school."

Penny shot a glare towards her mother. "I think 'good' sums it up."

"Penny joined the glee club." Artie interjected.

"Maybe." Penny said quickly.

"Oh, that's nice!" Mrs. Abrams said. "Artie really enjoys it."

"Losers." Jason mumbled.

"This is a very nice home you have here, Mrs. Abrams." Penny changed the subject.

Mrs. Abrams beamed. "Oh, thank you. It's not much, but we like it."

"No, really." Penny said. "It's very homey. I feel like our place is too new and-"

"We haven't really unpacked yet, dear." Penny's mother butted in, throwing her a warning glance. "I'm sure once everything is out it will be just like our old home."

"Where did you move from?" Mrs. Abrams asked.

"Idaho." Penny poked her fork into the mash potatoes. She was sure Mrs. Abrams was a good cook, but something about knowing it wasn't made by House Elves saddened her. A small grin crept across her face as she remembered the silly buttons her friend Ginny used to wear. Something like SPURT or SPEW. Ginny said her brother told her to wear them because his girlfriend was into it. Penny even wore one of the buttons for a while because she thought it was so funny.

"Aw, poor girl. She thinks of her home and smiles." Mrs. Abrams gave her a sad smile. "Don't worry. You'll make some new friends here."

"Oh, I wasn't-I mean, I was thinking-"

"Of course she will." Penny's mother interrupted her.

A silence fell over the room for a moment. The scraping of forks on plates and Jason's chair creaking as he swung his legs was the only company for what seemed like an eternity. Penny just wanted to get out of there. Sure, Artie was alright in school, though she didn't know much about him, but in his home, with his family, it was just odd. She wanted to be back home, even if that meant being surrounded by stationary pictures and not a wand in site.

"What do you do, Patricia?" Mr. Abrams broke the silence.

"Hey, dad?"

Penny blinked. She expected the conversation to go on dully for hours before anyone decided to say something. Never did she expect Artie to say something first.

"Yeah?" His dad looked just as confused as Penny.

"Um, it looks like Penny and I are done. Can I show her some stuff about glee in my room?"

Penny sat up. Did he just make a good suggestion?

"Sure, I don't see why not. If you're done, Penny?" Mr. Abrams eyed her barely touched plate.

"Oh, yes!" Penny jumped up to her feet.

Artie grinned and he wheeled out of the room. Penny quickly followed. The conversation went back to the dull drag that it left off at as they exited the room.

"Thanks." Penny whispered once they were in the hall.

Artie grinned. "I really can only take it for about half a minute. I swear, they are more dull than watching paint dry." At the end of the hall, he opened a door and wheeled inside, turning on a lamp as he did so.

"Wow." Penny stepped inside the room. This wasn't how she saw bedrooms in movies. Usually they were dirty with clothes and papers everywhere. Artie's room was practically spotless. There was so much room. Her face reddened as she realized he probably needed the extra space to wheel around in.

"Are you blushing?" Artie looked like he was holding back a laugh.

"No, I just-" She stopped, realizing her real thoughts were even worse than what he was thinking. "I've never been in a boys room before."

Artie let out a small chuckle. "It's not a big deal. Our parents are in the next room over."

"I know." Penny said. She walked over towards the window and looked out. It was starting to get dark out. At least the night would bring the stars. Somehow, the stars comforted her. She could just imagine being back in Astronomy class. It was the one true thing that she could keep from home without seeming out of place.

"Hey!" Penny grinned. "You can see my bedroom window from here!"

Artie wheeled over and looked out the window. Between the two houses was a brick wall, but since Artie's hill was slightly higher on the hill, they could look over the fence into the window next door."That's your room?"

"As if you didn't know." Penny rolled her eyes. "So, did you have something you wanted to show me, or was that just an excuse to get out of there."

"Actually," Artie said, moving over towards the corner of the room where a bookshelf was. "I wanted to show you this." He picked up the largest picture on the shelf.

Penny walked over and took the picture from him. She sat down on his bed and looked over the image. Though the picture was motionless, Penny swore she could see and feel how the scene played out. It was the glee club, all dressed up in red and black. Artie was in front with a giant grin on his face. Everyone else was smiling as wide as they could. There was a large trophy on the ground beside them. Penny smiled to herself. "You won the competition last year?" She had no idea what kind of competitions glee would be in, but the trophy had to mean winning something.

"That was sectionals last year." Artie said, smiling to himself. "It was really amazing to win that. Especially since the other teams cheated."

"They cheated?" Penny laughed. She couldn't even think of how to cheat at a singing competition. Play a tape of someone better singing?

"Yeah. It's a strange story." Artie shrugged. "I just wanted to show you what it was. How it made us all feel. Glee is really fun."

Penny handed the picture back to him and sighed. "I'm sure it is. It's not that, Artie."

"Then why won't you just join?"

Penny got up and walked over to the window. "I'm just not sure that-"

She stopped in the middle of he sentence and started out the window. Across the way, outside her own window, was an owl. "Periwinkle!"

"Periwinkle?" Artie blinked. "That's a reason not to join glee?"

"Oh!" Penny looked from Artie back to her owl, then back to Artie. "Uh, yeah! Yeah, you know. Dancing and singing in periwinkle outfits is sure to come up and I just look horrid in the color."

"But you have red hair. You'd look amazing in periwinkle. It is purple, right?"

"Of course!" Penny started towards the door, playing with her hands nervously as she did so. "You know, I just remembered, I should go home and think about this. I mean, really think about it, right? What's the point of jumping into something without thinking?"

"Did you see something outside?" Artie started to wheel over towards the window.

"No!" Penny gasped. "No, not at all! Why-why would you say that?"

"You've been acting funny since you looked out the window. One minute you're talking about glee, the next it's colors."

"Artie, don't be silly! I'm still talking about glee!" Penny bit her lip. If she left, he'd look out and see Periwinkle outside her window. An owl at twilight outside her bedroom window would surely make her stand out.

"Penny, you don't have to do this." Artie said, lowing his voice. "If you really hate the idea of glee, you can tell me. I won't mention it again."

"No, Artie, I promise that's not it." Penny felt her heart drop down into her stomach. She didn't know how to act without exposing who she was. "I just... there are some issues. You know, from home. I haven't quite... adjusted to being here yet."

"Joining glee would help that, you know. It will help take your mind off things. Help you make friends."

"I'm not really looking to make friends."

"Oh." Artie looked down at his feet.

Penny felt awful. He was just trying to make her feel more comfortable here and all she was doing was shooting him down. Still, if Periwinkle was here, that meant she had a letter for Penny. "Ok. We'll make a deal."

"What do you mean?" Artie looked back up at her.

"I'll join glee. I'll try and make friends and I'll even try and be nice to everyone and sing and all that stuff."

"Really? And... what's the other end of the deal."

"You have to close your eyes. No peaking until I tell you. No matter what you smell or hear. Got it?" Penny's hand twitched. She couldn't possibly be thinking of doing this.

"Close my eyes?"

"Yes." Penny said. "I-my pants are all twisted and bothering me and I need to adjust them."

"There's a bathroom down the hall..."

"No. Okay, that was a lie." Penny sighed. "I just want to see if I can do something. You know, from your window that can see into mine. Make sure I don't change in the wrong part of my room or something. But I'm embarrassed. Please?"

"You'll join glee if I shut my eyes?" Artie repeated slowly.

"Yes." Penny said.

"O...kay." Artie seemed skeptical.

"Turn around." Penny said, twirling her finger.

Artie hesitated, then did ask she asked. "You'll tell me when?"

"I will. Not yet, though!" Penny dashed over towards his window. This was such a stupid thing to do. He was going to look and she was going to get caught. She was risking everything by doing this, but she needed to know what that letter was! When they left the wizarding world, her mother made it clear that no one could know where they were. Periwinkle was the only exception, and they were only to send word by owl if there was news. Maybe the Death Eaters were all dead. Maybe they could go home. Maybe her dad was found. Penny flung open the window and whistled.

Periwinkle turned towards Penny and flew over. In her claws she was clutching a letter. As the owl grew closer, Penny reached out and grabbed the letter, then pointed towards the roof of her house. She nudged her head in that direction and Periwinkle flew off, resting on the edge of the roof in a tight ball that wasn't noticeable unless someone was looking directly at it.

"Did you open the window?" Artie said, shuddering. "It's cold out there!"

"Shh!" Penny sat down on the floor and traced her finger over the red wax that sealed the letter. There was a single letter in the center of the wax. L. Penny hugged the letter to her chest for a moment. She's recognize that seal anywhere. It was from Neville Longbottom.

"It's really cold." Artie said again.

"Just another minute!" Penny said. She turned the letter over and ripped it open. Her heart longed for home as the page swirled with text and hand-drawn scribbles. Two pictures fell into her lap, both of them featuring people moving. Her eyes skimmed the page, barely even able to read through the tears that were forming. She knew she missed home, but the simple act of having a letter in her hand was too much. She sniffled, rubbing her eyes with the back of her sleeve.

"Penny?"

She didn't answer, trying to read the gist of the letter. Key words flashed out to her. Her fathers name, Hogwarts, Ginny, Death Eaters... Penny's heart stopped as she fell over the one word that was written the largest and squirming all over the place – ALIVE.

"Penny, I'm going to turn around now." Artie said.

"No!" Penny scrunched the letter and jammed it into her pocket. Who was alive? Was it her father? Was it he-who-must-not-be-named? Who! She shook as she stood up, grabbing the photos as they fluttered to the ground from her lap. She turned and slammed shut the window, a little harder than she meant. The letter felt like it was on fire in her pocket. She needed to know who was alive, but part of her was too afraid to look, too afraid to know the answer. Surely if they found her father alive, someone would have apparated and told her. Unless... they weren't home.

"Artie! I have to go!" Penny nearly leapt over towards the door.

"Penny, wait!" Artie, who was closer to the door and facing it, kicked it shut before she could leave. "Tell me what's going on first!"

Penny was about ready to push him away when she realized he was in a wheelchair. She couldn't just push aside a cripple, could she? "I have to get home! It's an emergency!"

"What's wrong?"

"Artie. Please, trust me. Let me go. This is incredibly important!"

Artie sighed. "Fine, you don't want to tell me, don't." He leaned forward and opened the door then pushed himself off to the side, leaving the doorway open for her.

Now Penny felt like a bitch. She jerked forward, then stopped. If she left now, she'd ruin something. She knew that. It might even raise suspicion. But if her father was alive, she could go home and never have to worry about them again.

"I'm sorry." She whispered, then dashed off down the hall.

**Wow, long one tonight. I guess there was just alot to be said! The next few ones might not be as long as this. I'm toying with the idea of a slight time jump, but I hate time jumps. They feel like cheating. Oh well, we'll see how the story goes. I guess I _could_ get away with cheating since it is my first story. **


	7. Chapter 7

"Dad?" Penny flew open her front door and ran throughout the house. "Professor McGonagall?" She had no idea who would come to her house, but those two names seemed those most likely. "Hello? Anyone!"

Penny threw open the door to every room and closet in the house, but no one else was there. She even checked under the beds. Still, she was alone. After realizing no one came, she slowly dragged herself back to her room. Tears were starting to well up in her eyes and she sat down on the floor next to her bed. She took the letter out. This time, she cleared her eyes and took the time to fully read it.

_ Penny,_

_ Things have only gotten worse since you left. The Ministry of Magic refuses to admit that the Death Eaters are still out there. All the media talks about it happy times and how you-know-who is dead. While they've caught many of the big Death Eaters, like Malfoy, there are still many missing._

_ I heard from McGonagall last week that Hogwarts might be opening soon. It's not fully repaired yet, but enough of it is constructed to let some of the students come back. That would be great. I'm having a really hard time learning French._

_ How is the muggle school going? I guess I can't ask questions, can I? I guess I should just tell you why I wrote in the first place. _

_ Three days ago, Ginny went missing. No one had any idea what happened. One minute she was there, then Harry went up to her room and she was gone. Everyone was a wreck. Mrs. Weasley was ready to start blowing up everyone in the Ministry when they told her perhaps Ginny had just run away. It was aweful. But I said not to panic! This morning, we found her. She's unconscious, but ALIVE. Harry is there almost all day every day, and when he's not, Ron or myself is there to guard her. Ron's even put a guard on Hermione as well. Everyone is a little shaken up, but at least Ginny came back. That's hope for your dad, yeah?_

_ I know this is probably hard for you. Ginny and you were always best friends. I'm not sure what to say. I miss you. We all do. I'll make sure to write you the moment Ginny wakes up. Until then, know that there is hope. _

_ Neville_

Penny sighed and closed her eyes. Neville probably knew she'd be upset. How could she not? Ginny was the closet friend she'd ever had next to her sister. They were in the year, had almost all the same classes. Penny wasn't in Gryffindor, but her sister was. That's how she met Ginny in the first place. They were the three red heads. Her heart ached for those days. Even though her sister was dead, knowing Ginny was still okay was something that made her feel a little bit better. But now she'd been attacked and couldn't tell by whom. Penny jumped up to her feet. She had to go back. She had to see her friend, no matter what the cost. Ginny would do the same for her.

"What the hell do you think you're doing!" Penny's mom was standing in the doorway, hands on her hips. She didn't look happy.

"Mom!" Penny ran to her mother and wrapped her arms around her. She didn't even try to stop the tears.

"Wha-what's wrong?" She was still a little stiff, but her voice softened.

"I got a letter!" Penny cried. "Periwinkle brought a letter and-and-and...Ginny!"

For a moment, her mother did nothing. Then she pulled Penny in for a closer hug. "Oh, Pens, I'm so sorry."

"She's alive." Penny said. "Unconscious, but alive." She pulled back and looked up at her mother. "I have to go see her."

"No," Her mother said, without hesitation. "You can't."

"But mom! This is Ginny! I can't leave her lying in a hospital bed!"

"Yes, you can!" Her mother snapped back. "All the more reason you can't go back! I don't want my last daughter to end up in Ginny's position!"

Penny stepped back, shocked by her mothers words. Several things raced through her mind. She'd run away. No, they'd track her under age magic and catch her. She'd stop talking to her mother. She'd send letters through Periwinkle every day. No, she had to run away. "H-how could you-?"

"Penny!" Her mother straightened up. Every aspect of her was serious and stern, aside from her eyes. Her eyes looked like she was about to pass out from fear. "We moved here to hide until this blows over. I can't let you ruin that!"

"She could die!" Penny screamed.

"I said no!"

"I hate you!" She shoved her mother backwards then slammed the door shut. Sobbing, Penny leaned up against the door and slid down to the floor. More than even, she wanted to leave this horrible muggle town.

* * *

**I figured out how to put this line in! Yay!**

**Much shorter tonight. Again, my apologies. Maybe, if I am lucky, I'll have another chapter (albeit short) to upload tonight. Thanks to PieAnnamay07, who reviewed! If you thought Penny was a bitch before, I'm sure you think she is in this chapter. And I agree! This chapter especially puts her in a bad light, but I don't think you can really appreciate a character unless you see them from as many angles as possible. Now if only I could write as well as some of the other stories I've seen on here, I might be able to portray that better, but oh well. I'm still happy with this. **


	8. Chapter 8

"Pst!"

Penny stared out the window. Outside the sky was blue and the leaves were changing color, but she still thought it was ugly. She hated this town. She hated the trees that didn't knock away the birds. She hated the piles of orange leaves the Janitor was raking up. She hated the ordinary cars that drove by on the street. She hated everything about Lima.

"PST!"

Penny turned her head towards the sound. Kurt, who was sitting behind her, shoved a folded piece of paper towards her. Penny grabbed it, then turned back around in her seat.

If this was Hogwarts, the note could have flown itself to her.

She carefully unfolded it, watching to make sure she wouldn't get caught.

_You okay? Makeover after glee? It will make you feel better!_

She turned back around and nodded, stuffing the note into her pocket. Penny didn't feel like a makeover, or glee for that matter. But at least he was trying to be friends with her. That was the one thing she didn't hate about this place. She hated glee, but the kids in it weren't so bad. Well, the few she actually knew. Finn, Kurt, Mercedes and Artie. Penny felt a twinge of guilt as she remembered Artie. He was going to be furious at her. She still couldn't believe she just ran out of his house yesterday. That seemed like years ago.

The bell rang and Penny started to gather up her stuff.

"You look awful." Kurt leaned forward.

"I already agreed to the makeover." Penny mumbled. She was going to do it because she needed to 'blend in', not because she thought it was a good idea.

"No, I meant you look like you've been through hell."

Penny laughed to herself as flashes of the war went through her mind. Hogwarts crumbling to the ground around her. Flashes of green lightning racing down hallways. Friends dieing. Her sister dieing. She stood up and flung her enormous backpack over her shoulder. "You have no idea."

Things didn't seem to get much better. After her 3rd period, Finn showed up to take her class to class. He apologized for not being there earlier, but apparently his girlfriend and him had a fight. Penny mumbled something of a concern, but didn't really pay attention. She was ready for the new kid phase to wear off and to be invisible. She hated muggle schools.

At lunch, Finn muttered something about needing to find his girlfriend and left Penny alone. She didn't care. She went over to a corner in the shade and sat down on a step.

"Hey, Penny!"

She looked up from her lunch to see Kurt waving her over. He was sitting at a table with Mercedes. She didn't really want to sit with them. They'd only want to talk. But she knew if she didn't then it would raise suspicions. Sighing, she got to her feet and walked over to where they were.

"Morning, sunshine!" Mercedes said.

Kurt laughed. "She's looked like this all day. But she did agree to the makeover after glee."

"Sweet." Mercedes said. "So what's got you so down? You get slushied this morning?"

"Huh?" Penny sat down, dropping her bag down on the ground beside her. "No, I just didn't sleep well."

"Too excited to join glee?" Mercedes asked.

"Sure." Penny said, fiddling with her shirt sleeve.

"Hey guys."

Penny looked up to see Artie at the end of the table. He kept his glance away from her.

"Hey Artie." Mercedes replied.

"Did you guys hear about Rachel?" Artie said.

"I figured she must have died since she missed glee yesterday." Kurt rolled his eyes.

"I guess she was sick." Artie shrugged. "The flu or something. But her and Finn broke up this morning."

"What?" Mercedes laughed. "I think you've got that all wrong. Those two wouldn't break up. Rachel would never allow something like that to happen."

"She's been crying since 3rd period." Artie said. "She even asked Puck to comfort her."

Kurt and Mercedes both shuddered.

Penny tuned out and started looking at the other students in the school. She didn't care for gossip about people she didn't even know. Her thoughts turned back to Ginny. More than anything, Penny wanted to write back to Neville, but her mother banned Periwinkle from the house. Penny noticed her owl perched on a tree three houses over when she went to school, but she couldn't do anything about it until she found a place for her to safely bring letters.

"What did you do to piss him off?" Mercedes touched Penny's hand to get her attention.

"Hm?" Penny brought her attention back to the table to find Artie was gone and both of them were looking at her. "Who, Artie?"

"Yes, Artie." Mercedes said.

"Oh." Penny shrugged. "We went over to his house for dinner last night and-"

"Whoa. Back up there a second. You went to his house for dinner? You've been here only a day!" Kurt said.

"He lives next door. His parents invited my mom and me over." Penny said. She looked over to see Artie now sitting by himself eating lunch. Did she make him that mad that he would avoid everyone just to get away from her? "I left in a hurry. I got a letter from a friend at home."

Kurt shook his head. "Whatever you did, he's mad."

"Yeah," Mercedes sad slowly. "Maybe you should go apologize. I don't like him eating alone like that. Some of the football players might get a hold of him."

Penny had no idea what that meant, but she understood they were probably right. No need to go making enemies so soon. That didn't help her to stay invisible. "I'll be right back."

* * *

**Woot! Ok, Penny will hopefully start to turn around soon. At least, that's how I think it's going to go! I'm proud for sneaking in another chapter tonight, even if it's small. Two small chapters are like one decent sized one, right? Oh well. Works for me!**


	9. Chapter 9

"Artie? Can I talk to you for a second?" Penny walked up beside him, her hands folded in front of her. For the moment, she pushed all her thoughts away and concentrated on being as nice as she could.

"Free country." Artie said, looking away.

"Look, I'm really sorry." She sat down on the cement curb, placing her just below his eye level. "I know what I did seemed-no, it _was_ rude. I didn't mean it that way. I just thought... I thought I saw something important."

Artie didn't say anything, which worried Penny. Not only was she making enemies as school, but they also happened to be her next door neighbor. What if their parents ended up being friends? She couldn't just avoid him the rest of her life.

"I'm going to glee this afternoon." Penny said. "I promised you I would, so I am."

"Don't do it because of me."

"I'm not. Well, I am, in a way, but you were right. It's a way to make friends. To blend in."

"It's because I'm in a wheelchair, isn't it?"

Penny blinked. "What? I don't care about that."

"That's why you left yesterday. You can't stand hanging out with me. I understand. It's not-"

"Artie." Penny put her hand on his knee, without thinking he wouldn't be able to feel it. "That's not it."

He looked away, unconvinced.

Penny sighed. She wished Ginny was here. She was always good at making people smile. Hell, if Ginny was here with her, Penny wouldn't even long for magic anymore. If only she could just write her friend for advice. Even writing Neville would help. Neville was a sweet boy, he'd know just what to say.

Her eyes widened. That was it! She knew how to solve both her problems. Penny leaned forward, whispering even though they were far enough away that no one else could hear them. "If I show you why I left yesterday, do you promise to keep it a secret?"

"A secret?" Artie looked at her, intrigued. "How big of a secret?"

_BIG._ Penny mouthed. She grinned. This was a suicidal idea in a way, but then again, it wasn't too bad. Ginny always said the best way to get someone to trust you is tell them your supposed deepest secrets. Penny wasn't stupid enough to go telling Artie that she was no mere muggle, but she could pretend her deepest secret was a pet owl.

"I don't know." Artie sighed. He looked down at her hand on his knee, seeming to just notice it.

"It will have to wait until tonight." Penny said. "There's glee and then Kurt has this whole makeover thing planned."

"Why tell me?" He asked, still staring at her hand.

"We're neighbors!" Penny grinned. "Besides, I can trust you, right?" Something inside her twitched. In a way, she felt like she was manipulating him. Like she was evil, no better than Malfoy or even the Death Eaters. But an even smaller part of her was relieved. Holding so many huge and deadly secrets was exhausting. Telling someone something, even if it was just a small part of it, would take some of that burden away.

Another part of her, and even smaller part than the other two, wanted Artie to know. Not for the other reasons she had, but because she thought he was kinda cute.

"Alright." Artie said. "But I'm still mad at you."

Penny smiled, actually excited about the rest of the day. "You won't be after I show you! I promise!"

Just like that, Penny hated Lima a little less.

* * *

**I know this was really really short. I have no real excuse for that, except that tomorrows will be very very long. I'm halfway through writing it and it's already my longest chapter yet! lol Don't get too excited though. No action yet. You'll have to wait a few more chapters for that - but it will be worth it! I hope. Anyway, happy reading!**


	10. Chapter 10

The rest of the school day seemed to fly by, which was surprising. Penny expected it to drag. Finn finally showed up again just before her last class. He didn't look too happy. Now that she was in a better mood, Penny felt like she could say something.

"You alright, Finn? You look a bit depressed."

"Yeah." Finn sighed and ran his hand through his hair.

"Anything you want to talk about?"

"It's just Rachel, you know? She's so bossy and nit-picky. But I can't stop thinking about her." Finn paused, realizing he was talking out loud. "You don't even know Rachel, do you?"

Penny shook her head. For someone she didn't know, she sure heard the name a lot.

"Rachel's my girlfriend." Finn did a half-goofy grin, which quickly disappeared. "Well, she was until we broke up this morning."

"Did she break up with you?" Penny said. As soon as the words left her mouth, she wished she hadn't said them.

"No. Yeah. I'm not sure." Finn replied. "We were fighting, and I said something like 'Maybe I don't want to be with a girl whose always telling me what to do!' and she replied with 'Well maybe I don't want to be with a man that can't stand up for what he believes in' or something like that. Then we both stormed off."

"I don't think that's breaking up." Penny said. "It sounds like a fight."

"I don't know. She won't talk to me."

"Just tell her you're sorry." Penny tried to shrug, but her bag was too heavy. "Girls like that."

"I guess." Finn sighed. "The worst part is, she's in glee."

The worst part? Penny couldn't for the life of her figure out why that was a bad thing. That would give Finn a chance to go talk with the girl. She didn't have time to say anything as they entered the classroom and took their seats.

After Spanish, Penny looked down at her day planner. She had a mountain of homework and no idea how she was going to fit it all in. If only she had some sort of time turner, or a spell to keep her awake all night.

"Ready?" Finn asked, getting to his feet.

"Yeah." Penny sighed, slamming her planner shut. She'd deal with homework later. For now she was just going to enjoy her wonderful afternoon.

"I'm so excited!" Kurt clapped his hands, appearing to the side of Penny's desk. "Mercedes and I have already made a list of the best stores to go to. We're thinking India meets Cowgirl. It's going to be a challenge, but I must say we are looking forward to it."

"Yay." Penny forced a grin. While she was looking forward to spending time with them, the idea of changing her look was a bit daunting. All the more to fit in.

The three of them made their way to the glee room. Most of the kids were already there. Penny noticed a girl she didn't recognize standing next to the piano. As they entered, the girl glared at them, then went back to looking at the sheet music she was holding. Finn raced over towards her.

_'Must be Rachel.'_ Penny thought. At least now Finn could apologize to her. That would be good.

"Is that her?" The girl screeched.

Penny looked towards her, only because of the loud noise that seemed to erupt from nothing, when she noticed Rachel was staring at her.

"Rach, don't." Finn grabbed her arm, but Rachel shoved it away.

Penny looked behind her, then back at Rachel. Sh was definetly looking at her.

Rachel marched over to Penny and put her finger on her chest. "You stay away from my man, you got it?"

"What?" Penny said.

"Rachel, I was only helping her find her classrooms." Finn said.

"I was sick one day, and I come back to find out that you've been spending all your time with some red-headed flousy!" Rachel snapped back at him. "Don't think for one second that I didn't notice you were spending time with her between classes again today."

"Yeah, after you stopped talking to me." Finn grumbled.

Penny took a step backwards. This was something she didn't want to get in the middle of.

"Just stay away, alright?" Rachel glanced at Penny, looking her over.

"Leave her alone." Kurt sighed. "She's only been here two days. I highly doubt she has any interest in 'your man'."

"What's that suppose to mean?" Rachel frowned at Kurt. "You don't think I know? All the girls are after him. I have to work hard to keep them away."

Mercedes, who was already sitting in the back, snorted.

Kurt put his hand up before Rachel could say anything else. "Rachel, relax. Penny, do you like Finn?"

Penny shifted at the attention was brought back to her. "He's nice."

"See!" Rachel shouted.

"I mean like-like." Kurt said.

"Oh, no." Penny laughed nervously. "I've only been here two days. I don't really know anyone yet."

"Now, will you just relax?" Kurt said.

"Rachel, come on." Finn put his hands on her shoulders, rubbing them slightly. "Let's go talk in the hall for a minute, okay?"

While Finn lead Rachel away, Kurt brought Penny towards Mercedes. As they walked, they passed by Artie. Penny grinned at him and he smiled back. Good. At least he wasn't acting mad at her anymore. Ginny was right. The idea of knowing a secret was powerful indeed. That thought only brought about the ping of guilt. She wasn't really using him though, right? Artie was a nice guy and her neighbor. He'd keep her secret, of that she didn't worry. Besides, in all reality a pet owl wasn't too cooky on the muggle meter. Not enough to start going around raising suspicion.

"You ready, girl?" Mercedes winked at Penny.

"How to you get ready for two strangers to completely change your external appearance?" Penny asked, only half paying attention. Her focus lingered on Artie.

"Good question." Kurt said, sitting down. "Don't worry. We're professionals."

"Alright! We all here?" Mr. Schue waltzed into the room, rubbing his hands together.

"Finn and Rachel are out in the hall." A blond cheerleader spoke up. Penny didn't remember her name, but she remembered it rhymed with Finn's. Ginn? No she could have remembered that. Kinn? Lynn?

"Oh, should we wait for them? Mr. Schue asked.

"No." Kurt spoke up. "They have issues they need to deal with first. They'll be in in a minute."

"Well," Mr. Schue said. "I'm glad to see you back, Penny. Are you excited?"

"Sure?" Penny shrugged.

"She's ecstatic." Kurt leaned over and put his hands on Penny's shoulder.

"Right." Mr. Schue said, looking as confused as Penny felt by Kurt's comment.

"Mr. Schue!" Rachel came storming into the room.

"Oh, bother." Kurt groaned.

"Yes, Rachel?" Mr. Schue said.

"I demand that Penny sing today." She looked smug. "After all, as you all know, I was sick yesterday and couldn't make it to glee. I spent all night preparing something very special for you guys, but if she isn't talented enough to hear what I have to say then I don't feel I should have to sing it to her as well."

"Huh?" Penny blinked.

"She's crazy." Kurt rolled his eyes.

"Penny already went yesterday." Artie said.

"It's ok." Mr. Schue said. "This is glee club. It should be an honor to sing. Right, Penny?"

Penny swallowed. No, it wasn't an honor. So far the kids in glee were nice to her, save Rachel, but she didn't want to go singing in front of them again. She knew it was blending in, but it still made her feel awkward to have the spotlight for an allotted amount of time. It felt like, even for those few minutes, people could see her. See she was lying.

That, and she couldn't sing with an American accent.

Kurt leaned over. "Penny Lane?" He joked.

Penny didn't smile. "I'm not so sure." She announced to the room. "I'm a bit nervous."

"It's fine." Rachel said. "We're all friend here, right?" She glared over at Finn.

Penny didn't feel like she was wanting to be friendly.

"She's not as good as you, Rachel." Artie spoke up. "If that's why you're making her do this, then stop."

"I know that." Rachel smiled. "That's not the reason. I didn't hear her yesterday is all. I want my chance to listen to her."

"Rachel." Finn tried to motion for her to sit down, but the girl wouldn't budge.

"Just do it, already!" One of the cheerleaders with dark hair yelled out. "Sitting around here is incredibly boring!"

"Just go." Kurt whispered. "It'll be fine."

"I can't do this alone." Penny whispered back.

"Of course you can." Kurt smiled at her, but she didn't feel any better.

"Come on up here, Penny!" Mr. Schue clapped his hands together.

Penny slowly got to her feet and dragged herself to the front of the room. She had no idea what she was going to do. She could barely keep her American accent when speaking. There was no way she could actually sing without letting it slip. She cleared her throat, racing through all the Brittish songs she could.

"I uh... I'll be singing...um." Penny licked her lips. She could feel everyone staring at her. Kurt wasn't up here to steal away some of the attention. It was all just her. Nervous, scared, silly Penny. Her eyes dropped down to the ground, searching for a hint of what to do at her feet. There were no answers on the floor, she she looked back up, hoping to see something magically appear in the air above her.

That's when she noticed him. Artie. He was watching her, just like everyone else was, but he was smiling. That small simple act turned on a light inside Penny. She was still afraid and nervous, but she wasn't as bad as she had been a moment ago. If he wasn't mad at her, then she could do this. Somehow, she knew she could.

"Singing what?" The annoyed dark haired cheerleader said again.

An idea came to Penny. She wasn't great with an American accent while singing, but she could sing with a French accent. In fact, she could sing in French! How perfect was that! If her accent was off, it wouldn't strange or odd in any way. "I'll be singing Mon Histoire."

"Really?" Rachel gasped. "In French?"

Penny nodded.

"That's 'On My Own' from the broadway hit musical 'Les Miserable' for those of you that don't know." Rachel said, her voice sounding a little more matter-of-factly than someone who was just trying to inform.

Penny shuddered, then opened her mouth.

Je suis toute seule encore une fois  
Sans une ami, sans rien à faire  
Je suis pas pressée de retrouver  
Ma solitude et ma misère  
J'attends que vienne le soir  
Pour l'évoquer dans ma mémoire

She continued singing, letting herself get a little more carried away by the lyrics than she intended. Though she wasn't fluent in French, she knew enough to understand at least most of the lyrics. The song was so much deeper in French, she felt.

Mon histoire  
C'est un rêve qui commence  
Dans les pages  
D'un conte de mon enfance

By the time she finished, she hadn't even noticed the pianist had joined in with her. Penny froze as she realized everyone was staring at her. Shit. Now she's done it. Everyone knows, don't they?

"Wow." Mr. Schue said. "That was amazing."

"Well," Rachel shrugged. "Her voice wasn't that great, really. I think she messed up a few of the French words as well."

Penny looked over at her, surprised that Rachel was suggesting her French was wrong. She knew that song very specifically. Her French wasn't wrong at all.

"Still, I suppose she's good enough for glee." Rachel sighed.

The strange quietness seemed to lift from the room at Rachel's approval. People started to talk to eachother again, and Penny hurried to her seat before the conversation could steer back to her.

"Where did you learn French?" Kurt leaned over. He looked shocked.

"Oh, uh," Penny felt her face go red as she tried to think of an answer that fit her mother's history she made up. "I don't. You heard Rachel, I even messed up some of the words." She put on a goofy smile to try and look embarrassed. "I just listen to the song a lot."

"It sounded great." Mercedes said. "I've never heard the French version before."

Penny bit her lip and looked towards the front. Artie caught her eye. He was still grinned at her. Penny felt her heart swell. She wasn't a great singer, she knew that, but it didn't seem to matter here. It was like glee was a place to sing as you could. She really liked that idea.

"Mr. Schue." Rachel jumped up to her feet and crossed to the front of the room before he could answer. "I'd like to sing what I've prepared for the class today."

"Go ahead, Rachel." Mr. Schue said, leaning back into his chair.

"I wanted to sing something that would inspire all of us to sing as best we can. Especially with Regionals coming up soon."

"What are regionals?" Penny leaned over and whispered to Kurt.

"There are two performances. If we win at Regionals, we go to compete at Sectionals." Kurt wispered back.

"Oh." Penny shuddered. Two public performances? That was a lot. She knew it still wouldn't bring too much attention to her, this was glee after all. It's not like she was helping to win the football state championships. Still, if they did win, that might be bad. That might be too much attention. Of course, the next question would be how does one person make sure the whole team loses?

Rachel started singing something, but Penny didn't even pay attention to it. Her thoughts wondered back to the photograph in Artie's room. Everyone was so happy. Could one simple competition like that really bring about that much happiness? If Penny threw the competition, they wouldn't be that happy. Could she really do that to them? She didn't know them that well, or even some of them at all, but the idea of ruining something they work so hard for felt wrong. Really wrong. Like something Malfoy would do.

Penny shook her head. She couldn't throw it. This was just a singing competition anyway. There was no way she'd draw attention from it. No, she didn't need to ruin it. Her eyes looked down at Artie, whose head was bopping along with Rachel's song. Artie was so happy in that photo. Obviously glee was a big part of his life. There was no way she could take that away from him. They won Regionals last year and obviously they still aren't noticed any more in school. Penny let out her breath she didn't even realize she'd be holding. She didn't have to ruin the competition. It would be okay.

Rachel finished singing then sat back down. Penny didn't even listen to a word the girl sang. She hadn't even paid attention to the fact that Rachel had an amazing voice. Her smile was from something completely different.

"That's why we are going to win at Sectionals this year." Mr. Schue said, mouth agap. "Wonderful job, Rachel."

"I know." Rachel grinned. "Thank you."

* * *

**Ok, so that was a long one, right? Yay! Lyrics were found on "." since I cannot speak French. **

**The next one will be a bit long as well, but the one AFTER that will have ACTION! Yay for action! I'm dieing to start writing out a war here. We'll have to see how it goes.**


	11. Chapter 11

Once glee club was over, Kurt and Mercedes jumped to their feet a full three seconds before anyone else started to move.

"Come on, girl!" Mercedes said, grabbing at Penny's hand. "Let's go shopping!"

"Oh, this is going to be so much fun!" Kurt replied.

"Yay." Penny said as enthusiastically as she could muster. The idea of shopping at a muggle store wasn't something that thrilled her. Still, after realizing that she kinda liked being in glee, and that she didn't have to throw the competition, she was looking forward to spending time with Kurt and Mercedes. They were some of the nicest people she'd ever met, muggle or wizard.

By the time they reached the mall, it was dark outside. Penny looked hopefully up at the sky, but there were too many clouds to see the stars.

Inside, the mall wasn't as crowded as Penny expected. She was thinking more like Diagon Alley the week before Hogwarts started. This felt more like Hogsmead during school hours.

"I know you're going to think some of this is silly," Kurt said. "But just trust us."

"I know, I know." Penny smiled. "You're professionals."

"Damn straight we are." Mercedes replied.

Though they didn't go into every single store in the building, it felt like it. Penny had never been to that many stores in a single year before. And they were all clothing stores! Not to mention she felt like most of the evening was spend in a dressing room trying clothes on. Ug. She kept trying to tell them that she didn't want to try things on. If it looked like it fit, then she should just get it. They told her it didn't work like that. So Penny let them push her around, feeling like a muggle barbie doll.

Several hours later, they had picked out over 10 outfits. Though Penny thought the whole experience of shopping and trying things on was a big of a drag, she loved the time they were spending together. Kurt and Mercedes were happy enough to carry on the conversation, talking about glee mostly. They told her about how they won Sectionals last year, even though the other teams cheated. Then they told her how Quinn went into labor just after Regionals.

"Quinn was pregnant?" Penny gasped. Quinn, the beautiful blond cheerleader who couldn't have been fatter than a size 0, had a baby only months earlier. She didn't think muggles could bounce back that quickly and still look fantastic. Then again, she didn't really know of any teenagers that had kids. Still, it made her think. She'd been so relaxed about glee, what if Quinn had used magic to make herself look so good? Penny shook her head. She couldn't start doing that. If she suspected everyone, she'd never make friends and go back to hating Lima. Just like she had that very morning.

"Yeah." Mercedes said. "She gave it up for adoption, though."

"Anyway-" Kurt went on to talk about how they were going to win Nationals that year. Penny started to look through the collection of clothing that was in her arms. She was actually pleased with the selection they chose. None of it was too flashy, though some of the skirts were a little shorter than she'd like. Still, what she wouldn't give for a nice Hogwarts robe right about now.

"And then we'll be the stars of the school." Kurt ended, beaming proudly.

"What?" Penny looked at him, realizing she hadn't heard a single word he'd said.

"Winning Nationals." Mercedes laughed. "Mr. Schue keeps saying that if we win Nationals we'll be popular. I don't know about that, but at least we'll be on TV again. My mom really liked that."

Penny nearly choked. "On... TV?"

"Yeah." Mercedes said. "The winners aren't shown as much as the Cheerios winning Nationals, but still, it's a big enough deal. We'll get to be on the local news I'm sure. The kids will probably even stop throwing slushies at us. For a while at least."

Penny had no idea what a slushie was, but she knew how bad showing up on TV would be. Not only was that far outside the ream of a keeping a low profile, but that was a very very bad thing to do when she was in hiding! What if someone in the town was a Death Eater! She had been in the war. She might not be a famous player like Harry or even Neville, but she would be recognized. Especially if the Death Eaters had her father. They'd see her on TV with a message saying she went to high school in Lima... it would be over. They'd have to move to another muggle town. She'd have to live these same two days over again as the new kid, but without people like Kurt or Mercedes. Or Artie.

"I don't want to be on TV." Penny said quietly.

"Sure you do!" Kurt replied. "It's our own personal 15 minutes of fame!"

"I don't want it." Penny shuddered. Maybe throwing the competition wouldn't be a bad thing after all.

"Don't worry about it now." Mercedes said. "Right now, just enjoy glee. What happens, happens."

Penny smiled. It wasn't original advice, but she was right. She couldn't panic about being on TV when it wasn't even a real thing yet.

"Oh no!" Penny looked down at her watch. "I forgot about Artie! I have to go!"

"You're meeting up with Artie tonight?" Kurt cocked his head to the side.

"Yeah." Penny's face grew red as she searched for an excuse. "He's going to help me with homework. I'm completely lost in half my classes."

"I hear ya." Kurt said. "I think homework is worse than hell sometimes."

Mercedes laughed. "We better get you home then. Don't want you to be late for Artie." She elongated his name, making it seem more like a codeword.

"I really am meeting up with him." Penny said.

"Sure you are." Mercedes replied. "It's cool. We understand." She poked Kurt in the ribs.

"Yeah, you know, we have to get home anyway." Kurt grinned. "I have to put away my summer clothes. Time to bring out the winter collection!"

Penny wasn't sure why they were acting so odd, but she didn't push it. Shopping with them was fun, but now she was going to see Artie. For some reason, that really excited her. And it worried her. She was about to tell him a secret that could pose a minor threat. She'd have to be incredibly careful with her wording.

"You can't tell anyone." Penny said for about the hundredth time.

"Ok!" Artie laughed. "Who would I tell anyway? No one talks to me."

"Yes they do." Penny sighed. "Don't say things like that."

"Just show me already." Artie rolled his eyes.

"Ok, but I'm serious. You can't tell-"

"I got it already!" Artie laughed. "No one will know. Promise."

"Okay." Penny took in a deep breath. There were in his room since it was too cold to just stand around outside. Plus, she didn't want to risk her mother seeing them. If her mom knew she was going to be letting Periwinkle swing by Artie's house to drop off letters, she'd be dead.

Penny walked over to his window and opened it. A cold breeze came into the room, but she wouldn't leave the window open long. "You sure they are gone for a while?"

"I told you." Artie said, starting to get impatient. "My parents took Jason to some football game. They won't be back for at least another hour."

"Ok." Penny closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath. There were no more excuses. She just had to do it.

She put her fingers to her lips and blew, sending out a loud long whistle. Crap. She hoped her mom didn't hear that. A few moments later, Penny spotted Periwinkle flying towards the house. She stuck out her arm and like a well trained bird at the zoo, Periwinkle landed perfectly on her arm. The owl wasn't clutching a letter, but Penny knew that she'd be able to inform the owl to bring them to her if she was at this house.

"Ready?" Penny asked. Her arm was out the window at just the right angle for him not to see Periwinkle yet.

"Yes!" Artie laughed.

"Okay." Penny bit her lip, then brought her arm inside. "This... is Periwinke."

Artie kind of freaked out. There was no way he could have expected that. His hands stumbled to push himself backwards a bit. "What are you doing! Owl!"

Penny couldn't help but smile. "It's okay. She's my pet."

"A pet owl!" Artie gasped. "You can't train those those things!"

Penny stroked the owl lightly. "Of course you can. You just need to know how. I have her completely in my control. Isn't that right, Peri?"

Periwinkle let out a bored hoot.

"It's not going to attack us?" Artie asked, inching forward.

"No." Penny laughed. "Come on, pet her. She's really soft."

Artie reached his hand out, but took it back before he could touch her. "I don't know. A pet owl? Isn't that dangerous?"

"How is an owl dangerous?" Penny asked. "It's not like a pet shark or anything."

"I... guess." Artie stretched out his hand and placed it lightly on Periwinkle's back. The owl arched, encouraging him to stroke her. "Wow. She is soft."

"And smart." Penny cooed. "Arn't you, Peri? Yes, you are."

Artie smiled. "I can't believe you have a pet owl. How'd you ever convince your mom?"

"Well..." Penny's grin faded. "That's the problem."

"Oh?"

"You see, my mom, she doesn't like Periwinkle." Penny said slowly, choosing her words carefully. "Right now, Peri's been hanging out in a tree down the road. I was kinda hoping I could settle her in the tree in your backyard."

"My backyard?" Artie looked up at Penny. "You want me to keep her here?"

"Just for now." Penny said. She couldn't explain why she needed Periwinkle close. Telling Artie that she used the owl like a messenger pigeon would just be too weird. "I told you it was a big secret."

"I guess." Artie didn't seem so sure. "As long as my parents don't notice."

"Oh, no, she'll be gone most of the time." Penny said without thinking. Then, to try and cover herself, "uh... you know. Hunting. I just want to come over every once in a while to see her. No one will see her, I promise. My mom knows what to look for so I can't keep her in my yard."

"Can I... hold her?" Artie asked. He looked nervous.

"Sure." Penny got down on her knees so she was lower than him. She took her other arm and placed it on his, lifting it up. "Put your arm up like this."

Instinctively, Periwinkle jumped over onto Artie's arm. At first, he flinched, but once he realized it was okay, he relaxed.

"Wow." Artie breathed. "She's so light."

"Mice are hardly fattening." Penny laughed. "So, you'll keep it a secret, yeah?"

"Of course." Artie said, looking over Periwinkle. "Do we need to put a box or something in the tree for her to nest on?"

"No." Penny shook her head. "I can just show it to her. She'll realize it's close to me and stay."

"She really obeys you that much?" Artie asked.

Crap. That might have been just a little too much information. "She'll stay."

"Let's go see then." Artie pointed towards the door. "Take me out back."

"Uh... now?" Penny stood up. "She can just go sit on top of the roof until I leave. It's okay."

"Penny," Artie said. "She's your owl. You should take as good of care as her as you can."

Penny felt her inside flutter when he said her name. It was strange. Lots of people had called her name out before, but for some reason when he said it just then, it was different. "Ok," she said. She walked around and placed her hands on his wheelchair. She felt a bit degrading pushing him along, but he was holding Periwinkle. If he was okay with her pushing him, then she guess it was alright.

Outside was cold, but not unbearable. Penny pushed the chair over the door crack, then went halfway into the back yard, just under the large oak tree. She looked up. The leaves were still full and in place, leaving plenty of cover for Periwinkle.

"Will it be bad for her once it snows?" Artie asked.

"Artie, she's an owl." Penny laughed. "They can live through winter just fine."

"I don't know. Doesn't she need to fly South or anything?"

"No." Penny laughed again then walked around in front so she could look at him. "It's fine, I promise."

"Okay." Artie pet Periwinkle once more before lifting his arm up toward Penny.

Penny flinched her head up towards the tree and Perwinkle flew off, leaving them alone on the ground.

"Wow. That was amazing. She knew what you meant!" Artie said.

"Yeah." Penny's face went red. He was taking her 'secret' much better than she though he would. There was no doubt in her mind that he wouldn't tell anyone.

"How long have you had her?"

"Since my first... since I was eleven." Penny corrected herself. Talking about her first year would only confuse him. He'd think she meant first year of life. Penny sighed at the thought of Hogwarts. She'd only been here a short time, but it felt like her longing for home would never go away. "It was a present I got at the beginning of the school year."

"You miss your home." Artie said, quietly.

"Yeah." Penny shrugged. "But it's nice here. I have a great neighbor."

"Only the best." Artie grinned.

"Oh, I was talking about that old guy that lives on the other side of my house." Penny said, trying to look as innocent as she could.

"Were you?" Artie laughed, putting his hands out to tickle her on her side.

Penny laughed and jumped away, backing into the tree. "Ok! Ok! I lied! You win! Just don't tickle me!"

Later that night, as Penny was sneaking a letter out to Periwinkle to bring back to Neville, she couldn't help but smile to herself. Artie was really a nice guy. He didn't judge her for having an owl, and he seemed more than happy just to have her around. Maybe it wouldn't be too terrible to have a good friend like him. After all, she couldn't pretend all the time. Maybe she could just tell his small things, like that she was really from England. Oh, not having to put on a fake accent around him would be wonderful! She glanced towards his house. Then again, maybe not. Letting him know about Periwinkle was one thing, but the more secrets she divulged, the more suspicious he might get.

Still, she was glad he was in her life now. It gave her something to look forward to. She needed that. Especially when things didn't seem like they would ever be better.

* * *

**Hurray for another long one! It's actually much sorter than I planned, but I really wanted to start getting to the action. There will be a time jump after this, but I kinda expected it to come so it shouldn't be too bad. It would just seem horrible if things were to start happening a few days after she got there. Now that the initial characterization is out there (took only ELEVEN chapters - sheesh), we should be getting some more meat.**

**Thanks for reading!**


	12. Chapter 12

**ONE MONTH LATER**

"What about that one over there?" Artie pointed his finger in a circle off to the side.

Penny followed his gaze up towards a cluster of stars near the horizon line. She giggled. "That's Scorpius, again."

"Oh, right." Artie said. "What about that one?" He pointed to the other side of the sky.

"Draco or Hercules?" Penny said. "I can't tell where you are pointing."

The two of them lay on a blanket in Penny's front yard, looking up at the sky. They had several blankets on top of them to try and keep warm, but it was hard to keep still when they would keep pointing out constellations.

Penny loved it. They'd looked at stars before, but nothing like tonight. Tonight Artie actually brought over some blankets and laid down on the ground next to her. She felt like her heart was dancing in a dream. Everything that happened in the past seemed to fade away as she enjoyed the time just laying with the boy next door.

The past month had been surprisingly good. School had been going well. With the mystery of how to use a locker solved, her book bag no longer weighed a ton. She was actually enjoying glee, and even managed to stay somewhat invisible. Sure, the kids in glee knew her name, and a couple of random kids from her class, but aside from them no one talked to her. No one looked at her. She never even got slushied, though she still wasn't exactly sure what that meant. Most of this she attributed to the magic of muggle schools, but she was sure it was part of how Mercedes and Kurt managed to get her clothes that made her look like she actually belonged there.

In all honesty, she couldn't believe she'd been there a whole month, and yet it felt like she'd been there forever.

"What's Draco?" Artie asked.

"A sniveling little jerk." Penney sneered, her accent slipping. Then, after realizing what she said, she added "A dragon."

"I didn't know dragons could be jerks." Artie laughed. "And British ones for that matter."

"Oh, they can be." Penny replied. Her face went red. She hadn't slipped like that since she first arrived.

"What about that one?" Artie stretched his arm up back towards Scorpius.

Laughing, Penny reached over him and grabbed his hand. "Now you're just teasing me!"

Artie clutched his fingers around her hand. He turned his head to look at her. His nose almost brushed hers. "I'm just trying to see if you know your constellations, that's all."

Penny felt her face grow red and she turned away from him. She liked him, she knew that, but she wasn't sure what to do about it. Part of her thought he liked her too, but she'd made a decision not to get too close to anyone here. Still, it was getting harder everyday. She hadn't heard from the wizarding world since Neville sent the letter telling of Ginny. Every once in a while, she'd start to panic and worry that Ginny wasn't well yet, but then she'd calm down. Periwinkle hadn't brought her any letters, but she'd been gone a lot. If there was news that Penny needed to know, she'd find out. Which left her completely emerged in the muggle world, with Artie. It was hard not to become wrapped up in it.

"I should get back home." Artie said, propping himself up on his elbows.

"What? No." Penny looked over at him, frowning. "Stay. I thought you were having fun."

"Penny, this is fun and all, but..." Artie sighed.

"But what?"

"We have school tomorrow."

Penny groaned and looked up at the stars. It was moments like this she doubted that he liked her. "Fine."

"You confuse me."

"Ditto."

Artie sat there for a moment, looking between his house and the stars above. "Don't get me wrong. I like this. Laying here with you, looking up at the stars, it makes us feel like equals. There's no awkward chair getting in the way."

"Artie-"

"Let me finish." He interrupted her. "It's just, sometimes it feels like you want to be here, and sometimes I feel like I should go."

"I don't want you to go." Penny said.

"It's fine." Artie said. "I killed the mood anyway." He propped himself up and pulled the wheelchair over towards him. "We can do this again some other time."

"Tomorrow?" Penny asked, more eagerly than she wanted to.

Artie shook his head. "I don't know. Maybe. We'll see."

"Oh." Penny looked down at the bump in the blankets where her feet were.

"I'll see you tomorrow? In school?" Artie asked as he pulled himself up onto the wheelchair.

Penny nodded, forcing a smile. "Of course."

"Good. 'Night, Penny." With that, he wheeled away, leaving Penny alone in her front yard.

The next day, school seemed to drag on forever. She couldn't wait for glee. Penny found herself fidgeting in her seat all day. In between classes she would race to her locker, then to class. Every once in a while she'd pass by Finn. A part of Penny felt bad whenever she saw him. Finn would sometimes smile, but most of the time he just looked away. She wasn't really sure what happened. Ever since that day with Rachel, Finn wouldn't talk to her anymore. She didn't know if Rachel told him to stay away or if he just did it to be safe. Either way, it sucked. Finn was her first friend in Lima and she wasn't going to forget that.

By the time the bell rang at the end of school, Penny decided to take action. She spun around in her seat and stared at Finn.

"Hey Finn?"

"Mm?" He didn't look at her. Instead he was busy putting away his books as slow as he could to keep a reason not to make eye contact.

"Did I do something to upset you?" Penny asked. "You haven't talked to me in about a month."

"No, you didn't upset me."

That was the only reply she got. Before Penny could ask anything more, Kurt bounced up.

"Time for glee!" He said.

"Just a second." Penny said before turning back to Finn. But Finn was already gone. Penny frowned to herself. "He left."

"Who, Finn?" Kurt shrugged. "We'll see him in glee. Come on!"

Penny got up to her feet, lifting her bag over her shoulder. "He's been avoiding me."

"Finn's not ignoring you." Kurt said. "He's just preoccupied at the moment."

"What does that mean?"

"His cousin is in town. Between that and Rachel he barely has a thought to himself."

Penny shook her head. "He's been avoiding me for over a month."

"Oh, I'm sure he hasn't." Kurt smiled, but he didn't seem to believe what he was saying.

"Maybe I should try and catch him before glee..." Penny thought out loud.

"And risk Rachel seeing you?" Kurt shook his head. "That girl has two major things you don't want to make her jealous over. Her voice and Finn. Last time she sent a girl to a crackhouse."

"A what?"

Kurt laughed. "At least it wasn't an active crackhouse."

Penny frowned. She wasn't sure what a crackhouse was, but it didn't sound fun. "Alright. I don't suppose you can ask him for me, will you?"

Something flickered in Kurt's eyes, though it was hard to catch what it meant. "I don't know. It's not really my area."

Penny sighed. This wasn't getting anywhere. "Alright, let's go to glee."

"Ok. Remember it's in the auditorium today!"

"Wait, you aren't going?"

"I am." Kurt said. "I just have to take care of something first. Meet you there?"

Penny sighed. "Yeah." She watched Kurt bounce out of the room. She supposed she could go find Artie, but he was probably already down at the Auditorium. She decided she best go to her locker before heading down there.

In the hall, Penny felt nervous. It was strange. She didn't know why, but something felt off. There wasn't anyone in the hall, but she felt like she was being watched. She couldn't quite place her finger on it. Penny shook it off, thinking it was probably the fact that she rarely went to her locker after school by herself.

Penny dropped her bag on the floor and picked up the lock in her hands. As she was turning the dial, she heard a voice come from behind her.

"I thought I might find you here."

Penny turned her head around with a smile. "Hey Artie! I figured you would already be down at the auditorium."

"I was waiting for you, actually."

"Yeah?" This brought a small blush to Penny's face. She was glad he didn't seem distant after the night before. "What's up?"

He shrugged. "I was just wondering if you were busy tonight. Maybe we can look at some more constellations."

"Yeah?" Penny clicked her heels together in excitement. "Sure. Yeah. That would be great."

Artie smiled. "Cool. Ready?" He motioned towards the auditorium.

"One second." She turned back around and opened her locker, slamming her books inside. She pulled out her winter coat, and a thin brown stick clattered to the floor. Penny blinked. She didn't remember bringing her wand to school. It seemed detrimental, even. She couldn't even remember the last time she saw her wand. It must have been in her jacket pocket and fallen out when she grabbed her it. Wow. Had she really gone a whole month without using any magic at all?

"What's that?" Artie asked, looking down at her wand.

Penny froze, her back to him. She had no idea what to do. If she reacted and tried to hide it, he might get suspicious. But if she said it was nothing, he might tell her to throw it out. Penny closed her eyes, replaying as many movie moments with sticks in them. "Uh, it's my girl scout totem stick. You know. We carve a notch in it every time something great happens."

Artie wheeled towards her. "It looks notch-less."

Penny knelt down and grasped the wand in her hand, shoving it up her sleeve. "Oh, well, you know. I can't think of anything amazing enough to start marking it up with."

"Nothing amazing enough?" Artie grinned.

It was then that Penny realized, crouched on the ground beside his wheelchair, that there wasn't nearly enough space between them. Sure, she liked him, and part of her wanted to reach over and grab his hand, but not now. Not when she was too close to having her secret revealed.

It seemed Artie wasn't caring about her 'totem stick' anymore. He leaned over, taking the initiative, and kissed her quickly on the lips.

Penny fell backwards on her butt, clashing her head into the lockers. Her face went bright red.

"I'm sorry." Artie looked away. "I didn't mean to... I'm sorry."

"No." Penny grabbed the back of her head, rubbing where she was sure a bump was starting to form. "No, I'm sorry. I slipped. I didn't mean... I mean... I liked it..."

Artie turned to look at her. After a moment of just staring at each other, they both burst out into laughter. Penny felt better after seeing his face was just as red as hers.

"Come on." Artie wheeled towards her, holding out a hand to help her up. "We better get down to the auditorium. People might think you got lost."

Penny grinned, taking his hand. She pulled herself up and brushed off her pants. "Thanks. I think you're right. Let's go."

They started to walk down the hall together, laughing at their own embarrassment. Just as they turned the corner to where the doors for the auditorium where, Finn stepped outside.

"Hey Finn!" Penny called out with a wave. After her incident with Artie, she felt like she could take on anything. Even getting Finn to talk to her.

"Have you guys seen-oh. There you are." Finn leaned sideways, looking at something behind them.

Penny looked over her shoulder. Her smile faded away and all the color drained out of her face. She felt the strength run out of her legs and had to clutch onto Artie's wheelchair to keep from falling.

"Hey cousin." A pleasant voice filled with a familiar British accent replied. Standing in the center of the hallway was a tall lean boy with perfectly placed black hair. He had a crooked smile on his face and despite his words, was staring directly at Penny.

"Guys, this is my cousin." Finn said. He didn't sound too excited about it. "He moved here from England, staying with us, so he's going to join glee. Artie, Penny, this is Marcus. Marcus, Artie and Penny."

"So nice to meet you." Marcus said, his voice filled with a poison that apparently only Penny could hear.

"Are you okay?" Artie was looking up at Penny with worry.

Penny, who didn't hear anything but Marcus's voice, couldn't find the words to speak. He was a Death Eater! She knew it! She saw him in the war! He was on THAT side! Marcus Bruds, Slytherin and only a year ahead of her. She recognized him easily. There was no way he didn't recognize her. Penny's hand twitched, remembering the wand inside her sleeve.

"Penny, was it?" Marcus grinned, taking her hand and brought it up to his lips. "How nice to meet such a refined lady in a place like this."

Penny tried to snatch her hand away from him, but she felt frozen in place.

Artie, who seemed to get a sudden burst of jealousy, took Penny's other hand in his. "Penny, we really should get in there. I'm sure they've already started."

Penny and Marcus stared at each other. Penny tried to look as brave as she could, but she knew her eyes were filled with fear. Marcus wasn't someone she knew well, but she'd seen enough of him. He always followed around Draco and his bunch. If she remembered right, he was the one that put that potion in Ginny's drink one year, turning her skin a bright green. Bully or not, that's not what mattered. What mattered was when the war started, Marcus was on the other side. She saw him attack several first years. Penny's eyes flooded with tears until she could no longer see. Her hand in Artie's balled into a fist.

"Penny?" Artie asked, snapping her out of her fears.

Penny closed her eyes, shaking her head. She wasn't going to let Marcus kill her. "I'm fine. Can I talk to Marcus alone really quick? Meet you in there?"

"Why? Finn asked.

"New kid to new kid thing." Penny said the first thing that came to mind.

"It's alright with me." Marcus said. His eyes hadn't left her once.

"I... I think you should come inside with us, Penny. You can talk afterward." Artie suggested.

Penny bit her lip to keep from screaming out in protest. She wanted to pull out her wand right there and kill that... that... that monster! How many people had he killed? And how did he track her here? Did they already find her house? Her mother! Had they already found her?

"I think that's a great idea." Marcus said. "I've been looking forward to this glee practice all day. We should go inside."

Everything about the idea revolted Penny. What if he attacked? What if he tried to kill everyone in glee? Penny let her fingers touch the tip of the wand. She wouldn't let him. Once false move and he was dead. Even if it meant she had to leave Lima. She wouldn't let him hurt them.

"Ladies first." Marcus sneered, gesturing towards the doors.

* * *

**I know I forgot to update yesterday! Well, I didn't forget, but we got about 3 inches of snow on the ground and I was too excited!**

**Horrible place to end, but the chapter was really long as it was. *dances* I'm so excited! Marcus is going to cause sooooo much trouble! Hurray for action!**


	13. Chapter 13

Inside the auditorium, everyone was sitting in the first few rows, waiting for them.

"About time you all showed up." Mercedes said. "Finn left almost 5 minutes ago to find you."

"Sorry." Finn said. "My cousin is still getting used to the layout of the school."

"I can show him around it he'd like." Kurt said smugly.

"That's ok." Finn replied quickly.

Penny felt like she was floating in a dream as she walked down the aisle towards the stage. Didn't they see Marcus for what he was? Everything about him gave off an evil vibe! They were all in danger! Why couldn't they see that?

"Are you sure you're okay?"

Penny looked down to see Artie beside her. She shook her head as motionless as she could manage. "I think you should leave."

"L-leave?" Artie looked hurt.

"You need to get out of here." Penny hissed. "Just sneak out through the back and I'll-"

"Penny?" Marcus called out, waving her over. "Would you come sing with me? I'm afraid I'm a bit shy and Finn has always said you were a good singer."

Finn's face went bright red. Rachel let out a loud scoff and folded her arms.

"I-" Penny grabbed onto Artie's wheelchair again. How was she suppose to go up on stage with him?

"Go ahead." Artie sighed.

Penny knew Artie was taking this the wrong way, but she didn't exactly have time to correct him. She gave him a quick glance and hissed out "Artie, listen to me. You're in danger. Please, get out of here!"

Artie looked at her puzzled. "I don't understand."

"Penny!" Marcus said in a sickly cheerful tone.

"Just go!" Penny pleaded.

"I want to hear you sing." Artie said, a little too loudly.

"See? Everyone wants to hear you." Marcus said, almost emphasizing his accent, if that was even possible. "Come on, let's go."

"Go on." Artie urged her. His voice seemed a little weary, but it wasn't enough to stop him from encouraging her.

Penny's knees wobbled. Get up on stage with a Death Eater and sing a song with him. Sure. That was going to happen. And then what, just watch as he took out her new friends? She bit her lip and straightened up. He wanted to play some silly game, she could do it. Then after glee she'd get him alone. And then...

And then what? She didn't think she had it in her to kill him. Paralyze him, sure, but that wouldn't get her anything but a reprimand in underage magic.

Penny's eyes widened. That was it! Underage magic! If she cast anything, the ministry would be on her nearly instantly! Then they'd see the wretched Death Eater and apprehend him. Everyone would be safe, and no more Death Eaters would find out where she was. It was brilliant!

"Of course." Penny replied, making sure her American accent was perfect. She walked over towards the stairs to the stage, glancing over her shoulder at Artie once more. His expression was a mix of confusion and encouragement. Penny wouldn't let anything happen to him. She'd make sure of it.

"Anything in mind you'd like to sing?" She said as she came to his side in the center of the stage.

"The only song I really have all the words memorized to is "One Way or Another." Marcus grinned.

They lyrics raced through Penny's mind and her face grew dark. "Works for me."

"Great!" Mr. Schue clapped his hands. "Everyone else take a seat. Let's hear how Marcus sounds!"

When the music started, Penny became very aware of the wand up her sleeve. There was no way she was going to let Marcus get away with anything. How long had he been in town? How did he find her? She'd been so careful. She hadn't even gotten another letter! There was no way he could have found her so soon.

One way or another I'm gonna find ya  
I'm gonna getcha getcha getcha getcha

Penny let herself sing along, not even bothering to put on an American accent. This wasn't about her friends in glee anymore or trying to stay hidden. Obviously her cover was blown. This was about taking down that Death Eater before he had a chance to do anything else.

I'll walk down the mall  
Stand over by the wall  
Where I can see it all  
Find out who ya call  
Lead you to the supermarket checkout  
Some specials and rat food, get lost in the crowd

Penny stopped singing, letting Marcus finish the rest. She held the paralyzing spell on the tip of her tongue. One sudden movement, and he was down.

But it didn't come. Once Marcus was done singing, he turned towards the crowd and bowed. To Penny's surprise, everyone was clapping. What the hell were they doing! Didn't they see what was going on? Didn't they listen to the song? Marcus is evil!

"Very nice." Mr. Schue said. "And nice accent, Penny. Good idea. It matched his perfectly. You both sounded great together."

Penny bit the inside of her cheek to keep from saying anything. Instead, she jumped down off the stage and sat down in the front row, just in front of Kurt.

Kurt leaned forward, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Isn't he just extra cute?"

Penny spun around in her chair, mouth agape. She wanted to snap at him and call him an idiot, but the look on Kurt's face stopped her. He was so... sincere. There was no fear in him at all. Penny couldn't bring herself to put it there, even if they were all in danger. She'd just have to take care of the problem before they even knew what happened.

"Yeah." She muttered, before turning back around in her seat.

The rest of glee was spent with Penny's eyes glued to Marcus. She wasn't about to let him out of her site for one minute. She didn't even notice when Mr. Schue called on her.

"Penny." Kurt poked her and she snapped back to attention.

"I'm going to assign you and Finn to work together for stage effects." Mr. Schue said, then turned back to the crowd.

Penny's eyes twitched over towards Finn who was looking at her. Their eyes met for a split second, then he glanced away. This brought Penny's attention to Rachel. She looked furious.

"I don't know how to do that stuff." Penny whispered to Kurt.

"Don't worry. It's easy. I think he gave it to you because you're new and don't really know what's going on yet. This is your first regionals and all."

"Right." Penny sighed, sinking down in her chair. Here she was worried about all of their lives and they could only think about a stupid competition.

As soon as glee was over, Penny rushed over towards Marcus who was talking with Finn.

"Maybe if we take out the-"

"Marcus." Penny growled, interrupting him. "Can we have a chat?"

"Do you two know each other?" Finn looked between the two of them.

"No." Penny said.

"Yes." Marcus replied at the exact same time.

"Come on." Penny grabbed his arm, pulling him up to his feet.

"Calm down, there." Marcus laughed, but allowed himself to be pulled along. "There's no fire, we can take it slow."

"Not yet there isn't." Penny hissed through her teeth. She pushed open the auditorium doors and stormed out into the hallway. There wasn't anyone else in site. Good.

"So did you take me out here to snog with the hot new British kid?" Marcus joked.

With one swift movement, Penny swung Marcus around and slammed his back up against the lockers, pinning him in place with her arm to his neck. "Just what the hell do you think you are doing!"

Marcus laughed. "Penny, relax."

"I'm not going to relax with a murderer here." She hissed between her teeth. She was so angry she was shaking. "How did you find me!"

"Actually, that was a huge challenge." Marcus grinned. "You'd be proud."

"Tell me!" Penny pulled out her wand with her other hand, pointing the tip of it at his throat.

"You brought your wand to school!" Marcus laughed so hard tears were starting to form in his eyes. "It's amazing we didn't find you sooner!"

"This isn't a joke!" Penny shouted. "Tell me how you found me!"

Marcus raised his hand up over Penny's restraint to wipe his eyes. "Easy. Ginny."

All the air in Penny's lungs raced out. "What... what did you do... what happened to Ginny!"

"Oh bother." Marcus rolled his eyes. "Don't you read the Prophet?"

"I've stayed completely away from magic to avoid people like you!"

"Lot of good that did you." Marcus chuckled. "And it was nice of you to ditch your friends like that. What was the word Ginny used? Abandoned?"

"Aban...what? No!" Penny shook her head. "I had to leave. You took my father! You killed my sister!" Her hand twitched. How easy would it be to kill him right here and now? A Death Eater, responsible for the deaths of many... she could make him pay.

"Penny, what-what are you doing!" Artie's voice came from behind them. "Leave him alone!"

It was only then Penny registered that she had been shouting. She jumped back, releasing Marcus. Her face was red with anger, but now she felt ashamed. Not for what she did to Marcus, or what she was going to do, but for how she had been treating Artie.

"Artie-I... there's things I can't... You don't understand!" Penny stuttered.

Marcus turned his head to hide his smile.

"I understand they you are out here threatening Finn's cousin." Artie's voice was stern.

"He...you don't understand!" Penny repeated. There was nothing else she could say.

"You expose me, you expose yourself." Marcus said quietly.

"You exposed me already!" Penny snapped, pointing her wand at his throat again. "You're the one that did all this. Not me!"

Marcus looked down at Penny's wand. "Are you going to hit me with a stick?"

"Penny!" Artie exclaimed. "Leave him alone!"

Penny ignored him. She had to. It didn't matter anyway. Her cover was blown. She was amazed the school hadn't been run over by Death Eaters yet. "Just tell me one thing first," Penny spat out. Her hand was shaking like crazy. "Where's my father?"

"You're father?" Artie asked. "I thought he died when you were young."

"How would I know?" Marcus shrugged. "Artie said he died."

"Stop lying!" Penny shouted.

"I'm going to get Finn." Artie said.

"You should be more concerned with your mother, anyway." Marcus said calmly.

His comment hit Penny hard. Without thinking, she slammed him back up against the lockers, her wand grinding into his chest. "What did you do to her!"

Marcus looked over at Artie. "She's crazy! Help me!"

A few moment's later, her arm was torn away from Marcus. She could feel someone pulling her backwards, but she couldn't register anything but the hate in her throat. The one spell... that one spell she swore never to use... dancing on the tip of her tongue...

"What did you do to my mother?" Penny shouted out once more, holding back the emotions she felt would burst through at any second.

The corner of Marcus' mouth twitched. "I could have sworn I saw some Dementors heading off in that direction."

"De...no." Penny lost it. Her legs collapsed and she fell to the ground. Her hands dropped down to her side, her wand almost falling out of her grasp.

Her mother was a muggle. She wouldn't be able to see the Dementors. There would be nothing she could do. No warning. No way to defend herself. Nothing.

"What is going on out here!" Finn's voice came from somewhere off to the side, but by now Penny couldn't see or hear anything. It was all just black.

* * *

**Things aren't looking to good for Penny. What will happen next? Muwahahahaha. Thanks to all you readers! You encourage me to keep writing!**


	14. Chapter 14

Penny wasn't sure what was going on. There was an incredible pressure on her chest that made it hard to breath. Her head was killing her. She tried to open her eyes, but everything was blurred. She coughed, turning her head to the side.

"Relax."

Penny jumped internally at the sound of the voice, then relaxed once she realized it was Artie's voice. Her fingers twitched, trying to find where he was.

"Don't worry. I'm right here."

"My... my mom..." Penny felt like her mouth was filled with cotton.

"Relax." He repeated.

"No..." Penny tried to sit up, but the weight on her chest was too strong. "I have to... to..."

"It's okay." Artie said. "Just relax and stay still. Someone will be here soon."

"What?" Penny shook her head side to side, rolling it on the ground. She stretched her fingers out, then tapped them on the ground, searching for her wand. There wasn't anything there. Frantically she started to move her hand out, covering more ground. She jolted upright, tossing Artie's hand which had been holding her down aside. "Where'd it go!"

"Where did what go?" Artie asked.

Penny rubbed her eyes, forcing the blurriness to go away. When she started to be able to see straight, she gasped. "I'm... I'm at home?"

"Yeah." Artie looked around. They were both on the floor just inside her front door. He had actually climbed down out of his wheelchair to sit next to her. "Just breath, relax."

Penny looked all over the floor, searching for her wand. She'd dropped it before she passed out. "Where-" Then she remembered the last thing she heard before she blacked out. Her head snapped up and she quickly searched around the room. "Mom!"

"Penny, you need to relax."

"Mom!" Penny got up to her feet, pushing Artie away without even thinking. She raced to her mother's bedroom. Panicking, she ran to each room in the house, but her mother wasn't there. "Mom!"

"Penny!"

She stopped in the living room, looking down at Artie. He'd gotten back in his wheelchair to chase her down.

"I'd promised to keep you calm when you woke up. Now just relax."

"What's going on?" Penny asked. "I-I-I was at the school. Marcus... he.. he threatened my... I... I can't remember anything."

"You ran home." Artie said, talking as soothingly as he could. "You ran all the way. Finn and I chased after you, but you were fast. I was slowing him down so he took off. Finn got here first. He tried to call, but your phone wasn't working. When I got here, I told him to go use my phone. I promised to keep you calm."

"But... but..." Penny looked down at her empty hand. "Where did Marcus go?"

Artie shrugged. "He probably went to Finn's house."

Penny started to run towards the door, but Artie grabbed her wrist. "Don't."

His voice was so sincere that Penny felt her heart tremble. "I have to go." She said. "I can't find my mom."

"When I got here, I found you out cold." Artie said. His voice trembled slightly. "We thought you might be dead."

Penny knelt down in front of Artie's chair, looking him in the eyes. Before she ran off, she had to know what she was facing. "I need you to answer me three questions, and you have to just trust me that these are incredibly important questions."

"Penny-"

"No, Artie." Penny shook her head. "I'm dead serious."

"Alright."

"Did you leave the school before or after Marcus?"

"I don't-"

"Artie!" Penny paused, letting the frustration cool off before speaking again. "I need you to answer these questions as if your life depends on them." '_Because they just might,'_ she thought.

"No." Artie shook his head. "He was still there. I think he was yelling at Finn or something."

"What did he say?"

"I don't know. Uh..." Artie closed his eyes. "Something about loving a soulless being."

Penny leaned back for a moment. Her mind tried to process this, but she wasn't sure. It might have to do with the Dementors getting to her mother. Marcus was yelling at her, not Finn. "Ok. Who was Finn going to call when you sent him to your house?"

"The paramedics." Artie said. "We... we thought you were dead."

Penny bit her lip. They had to get out of there fast. She got to her feet and walked around behind him to push him. "We need to leave."

"No! I promised-"

"Artie, do you trust me?"

Artie turned his head to look at her. "You threatened Finn's cousin."

"But you helped me when you saw me unconscious." Penny said, pushing him out her back door. They had to get out of there fast.

"I don't know." Artie sighed. "Before I would have said yes, but I've never seen you act like that before. You were so angry. And at someone you didn't even know."

Sirens floated in from down the street. Penny pushed faster, but trying to wheel Artie over the grass was much harder than she thought it would be.

"Wait! We have to go back!" Artie said. "Where are you going?"

She pushed him up onto the sidewalk, then started down the road. Half a block ahead she saw her destination. The park. It was already starting to get dark outside. Cold, too, but that wasn't something she could worry about now. Now they just needed to hide. Then she'd go get Marcus.

"Penny." Artie said. "You ask me to trust you and you don't even answer me."

"To the park." She said quietly.

When they reached the park, she headed over towards the giant dome. It was a strange thing. A giant plastic dome with three holes in it that kids could tunnel into. Penny had noticed it once on the way to school on morning. She had no idea what brought her to remember it, but it was the perfect place to hide.

The one hole on the backside of the dome was large enough to wheel Artie in. Penny was thankful for that. If she had to ask him to crawl in, she doubted he would go along with her.

"Now," Penny knelt down in front of him again, grasping both of his hands. "Artie, this is my third and most important question. I can't have you ask any questions. Just tell me what I need to know, ok?"

Artie nodded slowly. He was a little unnerved by the interior of the dome, which had been vandalized so many times over it nothing was recognizable. Penny's voice echoed slightly inside of it.

"At the school, I had my totem. That girl scout totem, remember?" Penny spoke as softly as she could, but the anticipation was eating her up inside. "It must have fallen out of my hand there. I remember dropping down to my knees, and then nothing."

"You jumped back up then ran out." Artie said.

"Artie," Penny squeezed his hands in hers. "Please, I need to know what happened to that stick. Did Marcus take it?" The question hung in the dome, repeating her worst fear over and over in her mind.

After a short pause, Artie shook his head. "While Finn was asking Marcus what happened, I picked it up for you. I figured it was important." He leaned off to the side, then miraculously pulled her wand out of his pocket.

Penny leaped forward, hugging him as tightly as she could. He flinched at first, but she didn't care. He had no idea what his small act had done. He literally had saved everyone's life. If it wasn't too late yet.

She leaned back. "We need to go. Now. We have to find Marcus before he gets to anyone." Since she hadn't found her mother at home laying unconscious, Penny was staying optimistic. That was the only way she could do this. She had to imagine her mother was out grocery shopping or something.

"No." Artie replied.

His words caught Penny off guard. "What? We have to hurry!"

Artie shook his head. "Not until you tell me what's going on."

"Artie!" Penny tried to stand up, but the dome was too short and she had to hunch over. "This isn't a game! We have to find Marcus before... before he does something bad!"

"Like what?" Artie folded his arms, emphasizing the fact that he wasn't going anywhere.

Penny bit her lip. Now what? She couldn't tell him the truth, but she couldn't just leave him here. Not without knowing exactly where Marcus was. Artie was one of the few people she needed to keep safe.

She let out another sigh. If she felt like he was one of the most important people to keep safe, wasn't it kind of hypocritical not to tell him? It was for his own safety, really. If he knew about her... what? Penny shuddered at the thought. '_Then he might hate me.'_

"I like you, Artie." Penny said, kneeling back down in front of him. "But there are a few things I haven't told you. I can't tell you everything, but I can …." Penny stopped. She could what? She couldn't tell him she was a witch. Nor could she tell him that she was being hunted by a group of Death Eaters.

"Penny," Artie spoke up, saving her from needing to say something right away. "I like you, too, but things have been a bit odd today. I see you threatening Finn's cousin, then you run home only to pass out. I don't know how to make sense of it."

"I'm not from Idaho." Penny spoke up, letting her true voice shine through. She knew dropping the American accent might lose his trust completely, but it was one of the few truthful things she could tell him. "And I've met Marcus before. We went to school together."

"What?" Artie blinked. "You... you're British?"

Penny nodded. "Listen, I can't tell you much, but you have to understand that Marcus is no good. He's evil. I don't mean evil like some of the footballs players here in school, I mean evil. He's the kind of person that...that... that is in movies." She had no idea what to say. "I'm pretty sure he's responsible for killing quite a few people." Penny twitched at this, holding back her true feelings. Even though she doubted Marcus was the one who literally killed her sister, she was holding him responsible.

"Kill?" Artie shook his head. "There's no way Finn's cousin could have killed someone. You can't get away with something like that."

"I can't-" Penny stopped, looking off the the side. She needed to explain it differently.

"Why didn't you just tell me you were from England?"

"I couldn't." Penny said. "I couldn't let them find me. I couldn't..."

She lost it. There was too much hidden emotion and blame and hate and fear and Penny just broke down. She started crying, placing her head in Artie's lap. Every time she tried to toughen up and stop crying, she started to sob harder. When she thought about how big of a fool she was making herself into, it only made her feel worse. At this rate, she'd end up curling into a ball and letting the Death Eaters kill everyone.

She felt Artie's hand pat her on the back and she stopped crying. She leaned back up, looking away from him to hide her embarrassment. But she had stopped crying. And how? Just because he touched her? Somehow that reminded her that she needed to keep going. She couldn't stop and be afraid. She had to find Marcus.

"I can't do this alone." Penny said, realizing that as she said it, it was true.

"You don't have to." Artie said. "I'll come with you. We'll confront Marcus and call the authorities."

"We can't." Penny shook her head. "We can't tell anyone."

"If he's a murderer-"

"So you believe me?" Penny looked at him, her embarrassment replaced with shock.

"Not really." He admitted. "But I'm willing to stick with you."

"Even thought I lied about where I'm from?"

"I don't know why you did, but I'm sure you have your reasons, right?"

Penny nodded. Did she ever.

"And you'll tell me one day, right?"

"I-" Before Penny could answer, a crack of thunder echoed throughout the sky, rumbling the dome. Penny's eyes grew wide.

"A storm?" Artie asked, looking over Penny's shoulder.

"That's not thunder." Penny whispered. She'd recognize that sound anywhere. She scrambled out of the dome, bumping her head several times as she did so.

Outside, the darkening sky was filled with green clouds. In the highest point, large enough to be seen cities away, was a cloud of a skull with a snake coming out of it's mouth. The cloud was illuminated with green lightning.

Penny felt a scream stick in her throat. The Death Mark only meant one thing.

Marcus had killed someone.

* * *

**DUN DUN DUUUNNNNNNN! Yeah, I know, it's a bit of an ender. I wasn't expecting any deaths but it seems they are in store. Dang. Sorry to all those that have read this far in favor that no one would die! I must admit, it wasn't an original intention, but those pesky Death Eaters! They just ruin everything! Thank you to all the wonderful reviewers. I appreciate it so much and I will continue to write this if you keep reading!**


	15. Chapter 15

"Marcus!" Penny shouted. Her fist pounded on the door. "Finn! Open up!"

"Penny, you need to calm down." Artie spoke up from behind her.

Penny ignored him. He didn't understand what was going on. He couldn't. She pounded harder. "If you don't open up I'm going to break this door down!"

"Penny..." Artie put a hand out, touching her wrist.

Penny snapped his hand away, glaring back at Artie. In a way, this was her own doing. She could have made him stay back in the dome. Instead, she insisted he come with her. She knew it was the only way she could sure he would be safe. She could protect him if he was with her. If she left him at the dome and Marcus found him first... the idea terrified her.

"You don't understand!" Penny said. She felt like she was on the edge of crying or breaking something. "He's killed someone!"

"You can't know that." Artie was trying to be the voice of reason, but Penny's intensity was making him uneasy. "Maybe we could just call him."

Penny turned back around and pounded on the door again. "Dammit Marcus! Open up!"

As if in reply, the door clicked, then swung slowly open. Penny kicked it, letting it swing wide open in an instant.

Inside, the house was dark. It was if the windows were even covered up. She couldn't see in further than a few feet.

"That's... odd." Artie said, leaning around Penny to look.

"Stay behind me." She said, taking a step in.

Artie grabbed her hand. "Don't go in there. It's not... there's something weird about it."

Penny looked back at him and gave him a small smile. She was scared out of her wits, but she couldn't let him see that. "Don't worry. I can keep you safe."

"That's... that's not what I meant." Artie said, but he let go of her hand.

Penny straightened up and walked into the house. The darkness seemed to surround her, enveloping her. She heard Artie's wheelchair squeak behind her and it gave her courage. She tightened her grip on her wand, careful to hold it up her sleeve so Artie didn't see it. Yet. If this turned into a fight, he was going to find out her hidden truth. She didn't care at this point. Marcus had killed someone in the name of the Death Eaters. He'd crossed a line, and she would cross it to keep her friends safe.

"Finn?" Penny called out. Internally she prayed it wasn't Finn that had been killed. And she hoped it wasn't her mother. And she hoped it wasn't someone from glee. Or someone from her school. Or...anyone.

"Why is it so dark?" Artie asked.

Penny spun around as the door behind them slammed shut. Now she couldn't see anything at all. Her hand reached out towards Artie, grabbing onto his wheelchair.

"Penny?" Artie sounded worried.

"Relax. I'm right here." Penny frowned. Marcus was trying to get her to use magic. "Artie, close your eyes, ok?"

"I can't see anything." Artie said.

"It's fine. Just trust me." Penny wanted to use lumos, but she knew that's what Marcus wanted. She looked all around her, trying to see if she could make anything out. It was so dark she wasn't even sure if her eyes were open or closed. She could hear Artie's breathing beside her, quickened.

"We should get out of here." Artie whispered.

There was a soft twitter of laughter coming from a distance, but it seemed to echo around them as well.

"What was that?" Artie squeaked.

"Close your eyes." Penny said again.

"Why?"

"Trust me."

"You keep saying that but-"

"Did you see my mark?" A voice echoed around them, like the laughter. It was much deeper than Marcus' voice, but Penny was sure it was him all the same.

"Marcus." Penny growled.

Artie's grip tightened on her hand. She felt him grab her shirt with his other hand.

"I knew you'd like it." The echo said, snaking around them. Sometimes it was behind them, sometimes if felt like it was right next to her ear.

"Penny..." Artie whispered.

"Who was it?" Penny shouted.

Laughed swirled around them. The way it echoed made Penny feel like they were back at Hogwarts in the Great Hall rather than just in Finn's house. That wasn't possible, right? She hadn't touched a portkey.

"Marcus, who was it!" Penny asked again.

"Guess..." The voice hissed.

"Whose there?" Artie called out.

More laughter. It sent chills down Penny's spine. She wasn't brave enough for this. "Show yourself." Penny replied as calmly as she could. She thought she sounded more like a trembling kid.

"You brought me another muggle?" The voice chuckled. "The first death wasn't enough for you?"

Penny froze. She realized now she should have left Artie outside. Why did she drag him into this! So stupid! He couldn't do anything. If anything happened to him... "Touch him and you'll die!"

"What's going on?" Artie spoke up. His voice sounded even more scared than Penny's.

"Keep your eyes closed." Penny said. She wasn't sure why she kept telling him to do that, but she felt like it would keep him safe. Maybe it would keep him from seeing anything if Marcus decided to turn the lights on.

"No! LOOK!" This time the voice was so loud that Penny felt a burst of air blow towards her, tossing her red hair behind her. She gripped Artie's hand tighter. She could feel him shaking. Or was it her that was shaking?

That was it. Penny couldn't take it anymore. She held her wand out in front of her. "Lumos!" The tip of her wand burst to life, emitting a soft hum. Fearfully, she turned to look at Artie, knowing he'd be afraid, but he was actually keeping his eyes closed. She was shocked.

Before she could do anything more, a blow came to her head. She was knocked over onto the floor, falling just behind Artie's chair. Her wand clattered to the floor, the light going out.

"Penny?" Artie cried out.

She groaned. Her head was throbbing. She could feel liquid flowing down the side of her face, but she didn't dare tell herself it was blood. _'It's just sweat. You're so scared you're sweating.'_

"Magic! In front of a muggle!" The voice was furious, coming from all directions at once. "You should know better!"

The room exploded in light, nearly blinding Penny. She blinked several times, trying to adjust to the light and find her wand at the same time.

"Penny!" Artie voice held a quiet desperation.

"I'm fine." Penny said. She spotted her wand under his wheelchair. Her hand reached out.

As her fingers wrapped around her wand, she felt a huge burst of air. This attack was much stronger than the warning before. Her heart froze as she saw Artie's wheelchair twitch, then fly off in the air. She tried to grab for him, but it was too late. It smashed into the wall with a sickening crack. The wheelchair clattered onto the floor, followed by Artie's limp body. He landed in such an unnatural position it made Penny cringe just to see him.

"No!" Penny tried to jump up to run over to him, but she slipped and fell back on the ground, wincing. Apparently more than just her head was damaged. She looked down at her leg to see a severe gash going down her calf. Did that happen when she was struck in the head? She didn't even notice it until now. Damn, it hurt.

Laughter filled the room.

"Artie!" Penny called out towards him, glancing over his body for signs of movement.

"Mobilicorpus!"

A strong grip came from behind her, lifting her off the ground. She managed to tighten her grip around her wand so she wouldn't drop it, but Penny couldn't help being pulled up. She raised up and up until she was finally turned around to face her carrier.

Marcus's face was inches away from hers, grinning large. "And they said you'd put up a good fight! I thought you trained with Potter! You're probably the weakest witch I've ever met!"

Penny was trying to hold back her tears. She twitched, trying to get out of his spell, but he had her lifted off the floor. "Stu...Stupi..."

Marcus laughed at her attempts. He leaned towards her, almost having his nose touch hers and mouthed one simple word. _"_Crucio."

Penny felt every bone in her body burst open into flames. She cried out, twisting to try and escape the pain. Never in her life had she felt anything like this before. With every movement she felt the pain intensify. She couldn't think of anything but the pain and how to make it stop. Her head felt like it was being ripped in half. Marcus' laughter bounced around inside her skull, pushing it's way out through her eyeballs.

There was a flash of light and Penny fell to the floor. The pain was gone, but the memory of it lingered in her body. She couldn't hear anything but the screams inside her head. The light was so bright around her she was certain she must have died.

"Penny! Penny! Are you okay?"

A familiar voice echoed in her head before she lost consciousness.

* * *

**And we still don't know who Marcus killed to create the Dark Mark. Who just came to her rescue? Where's Finn and Penny's mom and everyone else? Is Artie okay?**  
**Stay tuned to find out!**

**Thank you readers! You make me happy!  
**


	16. Chapter 16

Penny groaned as she felt herself waking from a dream. She couldn't remember the dream, but she knew it was terrible. Still, part of her wanted to go back to sleep. Sleep was so comfortable. Being awake would only bring more nightmares.

"Pens? You okay?"

Her eyes flickered, trying to open. They felt heavier than normal. The voice was familiar. Old. Strange. Like from her past. She felt a squeeze on her hand.

"Please say something."

Penny turned her head off to the side, rubbing her eyes with her free hand. She opened them to see the last person she'd ever expect. "N-Neville?"

Neville grinned his special crooked smile. "Of course."

"Where-where are we?" Penny rolled her head back and glanced around the room. She knew this place. But.. that wasn't possible.

"Hogwarts." Neville said.

"The Hospital Wing." Penny shook her head. "It was destroyed."

"Not really." Neville looked around before glancing back at her. "The whole school's been repaired, anyway."

"H-how?" Penny gasped. She tried to picture the ruined Hogwarts from the war being fixed in such a short time.

Neville shrugged. "Magic."

Penny closed her eyes. Her thoughts ventured back to how she got there. "Marcus... he..."

"It's okay." Neville said. "We took care of him."

"How... how did you find me?"

"Easy." Neville grinned. "Underage magic. The ministry found you and we went as soon as we could."

Penny looked away from him. "He... he killed my friend."

"I know." Neville said slowly. "I'm sorry."

"How could this have happened? I was so careful, but they found me in a matter of weeks."

"I'm worried it might be my fault." Neville said. "They might have traced the letter I sent you."

Penny didn't think so, but she decided not to say anything. She doubted it was Neville's fault. It must have been something she did. And now she'd gotten Artie killed... "Ginny?"

Neville shook his head. "No improvement."

As if things could get any worse. Penny curled up towards Neville. "I never should have left! I'm so sorry!"

"Pens, it's not your fault. You did what you had to do."

"No!" Penny sniffed. "I only got Artie killed! I should have been here and protected Ginny!"

"Artie?" Neville asked.

"My friend!" Penny cried. "He was... he was one of the best I've ever had."

"I-Pens... Marcus killed a girl." Neville spoke quietly.

"What?" Penny's eyes flew open. "Where's Artie? He was thrown across the room! I saw him! He-"

Neville leaned back, exposing the bed behind him. In it lay Artie, asleep.

"He's a muggle?" Neville asked, his face clouding over. "We thought he was a wizard! We thought you two were trying to take on Marcus yourselves!"

Penny shook her head. Neville's comment tugged at the back of her mind, making her feel even worse for dragging him to go against Marcus, but she was too relieved to think about it. "He's... he's okay?"

"Yeah." Neville nodded. "Madam Pomfrey said he had some pretty bad cracked ribs and a few tears in his spinal cords, but nothing she couldn't handle." He frowned. "That would explain his freak out earlier."

"He woke up?" Penny sat up. "He saw the school? He saw magic?"

"I don't think so. He was asking about you and wondering where he was. Madam Pomfrey thought he was hysterical from the situation. I... I saw Marcus torturing you so we figured he'd been as well."

Penny moved her legs off to the side of the bed. "We need to take him back."

"Why?" Neville asked. "He's safe here."

"He's a muggle!"

"So?" Neville looked saddened. "If he goes, you'll go with him."

"I-I have to." Penny blinked. "My mom... They're after me. I have to take him back then find a new place to hide." She thought about this for a moment. "Where is my mom?"

Neville bit his lip.

"What?" Penny asked, tensing up.

"She's... missing."

"Missing? How! She wasn't at the house! He said there were Dementors and-"

"Dementors!" Neville's eyes widened. "We didn't see any of them!"

"We who?" Penny asked.

"Kingsley, Harry and I." Neville said. "They are out looking for your mom and dad right now."

Penny leaned forward, hugging Neville. Inside her emotions were going crazy. She was scared and sad, but incredibly relieved. "I thought I was going to die."

Neville patted her on the back. "Don't worry. I won't let that happen."

"I know." Penny smiled. "Thanks."

A mumble came from the bed behind him.

"I should talk to him." Penny pulled away from Neville. "Alone."

He glanced over his shoulder and nodded. Then he looked back at Penny with sad eyes. "Don't leave without saying goodbye this time."

Penny felt like she could cry all over again, but somehow she resisted. "Of course not."

"Artie?" Penny leaned over his bed, her hands behind her back.

He opened one eye lazily and then closed it again. "This is a dream, right?"

"Why would it be a dream?"

"Because I can wiggle my toes."

Penny looked down at his feet. A tiny shuffle moved in the covers. Her eyes widened. Of course! Madam Pomfrey wouldn't have known the difference! In a second Penny went from sad to ecstatic to worried and back to scared. This complicated things. She couldn't take Artie home without explaining anything. She couldn't even take him home. People would notice something like this. She turned to look at Neville for advice, but he'd already left. Damn. She was on her own.

"Are you alright?" Penny asked.

"I've never had a dream where I knew I was dreaming before." Artie said, opening both his eyes.

Penny sighed. Part of her wanted to tell him that yes, it was a dream. But it wasn't. And when we decided he really was awake and could still feel his legs, well... what then?

"Artie, we need to talk..."

"Not now." Artie smiled, sitting up. He turned his legs off the bed. "Now we need to just dance."

He stood up, but after years of not using the muscles, he wasn't ready. He fell forward. Penny caught him in her chest, wrapping her arms under his. "Careful there!" She said, leaning back and trying to steady him. "I don't think dancing is in the stars right now."

"Of course it is!" Artie laughed, trying to stabilize himself. "In a dream, you can do anything you want." He looked at her, smiling wildly. "It's all about the imagination."

"You imagine walking?" Penny guessed it would be obvious, but she never thought of him that way. He'd always been in a wheelchair while she knew him, so she figured he was used to it. Kind of like how he was a muggle and would never be able to use magic.

"That's not all I imagine." He stumbled forward, pressing his lips against hers.

Penny blushed, but pushed him back all the same. "Artie... we really need to talk."

"Talk later, woman!" Artie tried to side step around her, but his legs wouldn't support him and he dropped to his knees. "Ow. This is a lot harder than it should be."

"That's because you aren't listening to me." Penny knelt down beside him patiently. "You aren't dreaming."

"I have to be." Artie said, looking around the room. "I'm not this lucky."

"Do you have any idea where you are?"

"I like your British accent." He said. His speech sounded almost slurred.

"Artie." Penny grabbed the sides of his face and forced him to look at her. "Do you remember Marcus?"

He frowned. "That guy. Finn's cousin. He wasn't home. Someone was there, in his house, laughing."

"That was Marcus. He was trying to scare us." Penny said 'trying' like he hadn't succeeded. That was far from the truth. "He tried to kill you."

Artie looked at Penny for a long time without saying anything. She kept wanting to say something, but everything that came to mind seemed stupid. She had no idea what was going through his head, but with so much to digest at once she didn't want to push him.

"I'm not dreaming, am I?" He said slowly.

"No." She shook her head.

"But you're real?"

"Yes."

He looked down at his legs. "I can feel them, though."

"I know." Penny said. She wasn't sure how to go about explaining that.

"Where are we? It almost looks like a hospital."

"Um, well." Penny sighed. "We're at my old school."

"In... England?"

"Uh, yeah."

"Oh."

That was not the reaction she expected. Part of her wanted him to freak out. In a way, she wanted him to yell and scream and call her a freak and horrible things. It would make her feel better after everything she'd done to him.

"Penny!" Neville came running into the room, nearly stumbling over. "Ginny's awake!"

"What?" Penny looked between Neville and Artie.

"Why are you on the floor?" Neville cocked his head to the side.

"Where is she?"

"Gryffindor Common Room."

"We'll be right there." Penny grinned. She stood up and held her hand out to Artie. "Come on. I'll try to explain on the way."

* * *

**This was a really hard chapter to write. I'm at a bit of a crossroads and trying to decide which way to go. It's not an easy decision. Nor did I want Artie to be able to walk. But alas, I guess that's what happens when your characters do things without you knowing.**

**Thanks again to my lovely readers!  
**


	17. Chapter 17

"I'm a witch." Penny said as quickly as she could.

"I thought you said I wasn't dreaming?" Artie replied. He was leaning on her, trying to walk forward without falling.

"Yeah. I know." Penny sighed. She was glad he was paying attention to his feet rather than the moving portraits around them. "Listen, this is a bit crazy, I know. But I just need you to understand that there's some things out there that are real. Like wizards."

"So you expect me to believe you can cast spells?"

"All I need you to do it not ask any questions once we get to the Common Room. I have to find out where my parents are and if my best friend is okay."

"Did you cast a spell on me?" He laughed.

"No. I can't just randomly do magic." Penny said. She knew he wasn't believing a word she said. "I was in hiding. They can find me if I do things like that."

"Penny, hurry up!" Neville shouted when he saw them enter the moving staircase.

"Artie, if you don't believe me, look around." Penny said quietly.

He looked up, staring at the staircases in front of them as the swung around. "That can't be normal."

Penny couldn't help but laugh. "If it helps, go back to thinking your dreaming."

"How is that possible?" He leaned to the side to see if there were mechanics. This nearly made his fall over if Penny hadn't acted quickly and stabilized him.

"Artie, I need you to just stay quiet, ok? They're okay with you being a muggle, but if you-"

"Muggle?" Artie laughed. "Did you just call me a name?"

This is ridiculous. She should have left him in the Hospital Wing. "Just... stay quiet."

The Common Room was filled with familiar faces. Penny wanted to hug each and every one of them, but she knew they didn't have time. Ginny was sitting in the middle of the room on the couch. Next to her was her brother Ron. Hermione was standing over by the fireplace. A few more Gryffindors were standing around the room, most of them in younger years than Penny. Still, it was so nice to see her friends again.

"Ginny!" Penny almost dropped Artie to run over to her.

Luckily, her friend noticed her situation and jumped up. Ginny crossed the floor and wrapped her arms around both Penny and Artie. "Penny! I'm so glad you're here!"

"Oh, Ginny! I never should have left! It's my fault that-"

"Don't you dare." She put a finger to Penny's lips, silencing her. Then she looked over at Artie. "Is this the guy Neville was talking about."

"My name is Artie."

Ginny giggled. "Isn't he a muggle? He sure is taking this well."

"He's kinda acting drunk." Penny frowned, looking at Artie. "I think he's shocked."

"I'm not shocked." Artie said. "I'm indifferent."

"Riiiight." Penny rolled her eyes.

"Come on." Ginny motioned over towards the couch. "Ron, get up."

"But I just sat down!" Ron whined.

"UP!" Ginny rushed over, pushing him off the couch. She motioned for Penny and Artie to go over.

Penny was relieved not to have to carry Artie anymore. She liked holding onto him, but he was getting heavy. And his strange behavior was starting to freak her out a bit. "So can I ask the burning question?"

The room went silent and everyone looked over at her. Penny bit her lip. That probably wasn't the right thing to ask yet.

"You want to know where I was..." Ginny looked down at her feet.

Hermione stepped forward. Her face looked pale. "Penny, I'm not sure-"

"No, it's okay." Ginny said. She took in a deep breath. "They've got everyone down at Azkaban."

"Wha-how!" Penny gasped. "It was decommissioned!"

"I think you mean 'Alacazam'." Artie said.

Ginny shook her head, ignoring Artie. "The Death Eaters have taken it over. There aren't as many Dementors there, but the ministry still can't get anywhere near it. It's like the Death Eaters hideout. They kill anyone if they get too close."

"How did you get out?" Penny felt her gut tightening. Is that where her parents were?

Ginny paused for a moment, looking over at Ron. He nodded, then Ginny turned back to Penny. She held out her arm, lifting up her sleeve.

Penny jumped back, nearly landing on Artie's lap. "Ginny!"

Tattooed on Ginny's forearm was a skull with a snake protruding from it's mouth. The infamous Death Eaters mark.

"Wasn't the cloud like that?" Artie looked over Penny's shoulder.

Ginny shoved her sleeve back down, looking away.

Hermione cleared her throat. "There were horrible circumstances there. You have to imagine that it's like hell in there. Dementors and Death Eaters and..."

"That's where my parents are." Penny said. She didn't even bother asking.

"I don't know." Ginny said. Her voice was so quiet Penny almost didn't hear her. "I didn't see anyone else. I just heard screams."

"Why are your parents in the Alakazam hell?" Artie asked.

Penny closed her eyes. This made things more difficult. "We can't just leave them there."

"There's... more." Ginny said, hesitating.

"Oh?"

"He's not like... like you-know-who." The room flinched even as Ginny mentioned it. "But he's pretty strong. And he's already got the Death Eaters following him."

"I don't understand." Penny shook her head. "Who could possibly gather them together so quickly? And what could they do? The Aurors will catch them-"

"That's the thing." Hermione interrupted. "It was an Aurors son."

"A... son?" Penny blinked. "You mean a kid?"

Ginny nodded. "Younger than us, even."

"Well, let's get him!" Penny slammed her fist into her hand. "We can take him down. Those Death Eaters should know better than to mess with us!" She was trying to sound brave and encouraging. She thought she sounded more scared than ever.

"That's the thing." Ginny said. "How Marcus found you."

"What do you mean?"

"He... he goes to William McKinley High." Ginny said, looking between Penny and Artie. "His name is Brian Zeklstien."

Penny had a puzzled look on her face, but Artie started laughing. The whole room turned to look at him.

"You know Brian!" Artie said between chuckles. "He's the kid I took to glee for that assignment, remember? Man he can't sing worth anything!"

"Wait... the freshman?" Penny said, trying to remember something that seemed to have happened ages ago.

"Yeah!" Artie was still laughing. The rest of the room was staring at him like he was crazy.

"He... he goes to my school?" Penny squeaked. "But... how! How did he find me!"

"We don't know." Ginny shook her head. "It's possible it's one huge coincidence, but there's no way to know. We just have to find him and put an end to this before it gets any worse."

"At least we know where he is." Penny looked down at her feet. She'd been in the same room with him and not even known it.

"Harry and Kingsly are there looking for him and your mom right now." Ron spoke up.

"Then we have to go back." Penny said.

"My mom is going to freak." Artie said.

Penny looked over at Artie. Whether he was in shock or not, he had a point. "There are some complications with him."

Ginny pulled out her wand, holding it next to her face. She smiled, but it looked more pained than anything else. "Memory charms."

"Wait!" Penny put her arm out around Artie. "I... not yet! I don't want... I can't have him forget me. Not yet."

"Are they like charm bracelets? Because I'm kind of a dude here." Artie said.

"Not him." Ginny rolled her eyes. "Whoever is causing the complications."

Penny looked over at Artie. He still looked like he was hazing around in a dream. His eyes glanced over the room, looking right at moving portraits and ghosts that happened to be passing by. Nothing seemed to phase him. Maybe she should erase his memory. If he wasn't coming to terms with it, maybe he never would. Maybe it would scare him away. "Artie. Is this too much for you?"

Then he did something she didn't expect – he smiled. "As long as you tell me it's alright, I trust you."

She still wasn't sure he knew what he was getting into, but she was selfish. She didn't want to lose him. "We need to go back. I... I have to get my parents back."

"I'm coming, too." Ginny said.

"No way!" Ron stepped forward. "Harry said that-"

"Harry isn't here." Ginny glared at her brother. "And believe it or not I can handle myself. Penny is going to need help. I'm not going to stand aside!"

Penny felt her insides twist. That was exactly what she did to Ginny. Yet now her friend still wanted to stand by her. "Ginny, I can handle this."

"Not alone, you can." Hermoine said. "I'm going as well. Ron, too."

"What?" Ron squeaked.

"What about me?" Artie asked.

"You are going home." Penny said. "And I am going to have to figure out what to tell your parents."

* * *

**And so things get more complicated! Joyous. Check in tomorrow to see how the Hogwarts kids handle life in a muggle school! Hahahaha!**

**Remember, this is my first ever fanfic/story. I'm sure there's bound to be several errors and spelling and well... loads of issues. If you notice something I need to fix, just let me know. I really really appreciate comments/reviews. They always make me happy.**

**Thanks for reading!**


	18. Chapter 18

By the time Penny, Artie and Ginny reached WMHS, it was lunch time. That was something Penny hadn't expected. She knew that she had been out of it for a while, but when the group arrived to find the school filled with students, she became worried. If it wasn't for Ginny, she would have backed out.  
"With Hermione and Ron checking out your house, we need to stick with the school." Ginny had said. "As soon as Brian sees you, he'll know what's going on. But we have to risk it. He can't get away."  
Penny nodded in agreement, scanning the crowd. She spotted Mercedes and Kurt sitting at a table at the bottom of the stairs and ducked.  
Artie, who'd been almost silent the entire way, placed a hand on Penny. To keep the illusion, she made him get back in a wheelchair. If he was walking around, people would definitely notice that. Attention wasn't something they could handle right now.  
"What's wrong?" Ginny asked, noticing Penny.  
"I know them. Over there." She replied. "They're my friends."  
"Then go say hello." Ginny said.  
"I can't." Penny shook her head. "I...we've been gone for a few days. They'll ask where we've been."  
"Then get creative!" Ginny laughed. "Go ahead. Mingle with them. Ask them if they've seen Brian."  
"Ginny..."  
This time, Artie spoke up. "Come on, Penny. Don't be shy."  
Penny looked over at Artie and smiled. He didn't look as dazed as he had been, which was good. Still, seeing him back in the wheelchair pained her. She knew he wanted to be out of that thing about as much as she wanted her parents back. Though she still wasn't sure he understood he could really walk.  
"I can't leave you again, Ginny. Come with us." Penny said.  
Ginny shook her head. "Two red heads will stand out. I need to sneak off myself. I'll be careful, don't worry."  
"But-"  
"Pens. You worry too much." Ginny rolled her eyes and ran off towards the school.  
Penny swallowed hard. She glanced over at the table. Kurt was laughing at something. She missed him. She missed Glee. She actually missed the whole muggle school deal. It was strange. She loved Hogwarts more, especially since the classes there actually taught her things she would need to know in life, but WMHS wasn't so bad. Especially not with the glee club.  
"Are you alright?" Artie looked up at her.  
"Are you?" She asked, almost laughing. "I can't tell if you're in shock or just hate me."  
"I don't hate you." Artie said. "It's a bit overwhelming, but I don't hate you."  
Penny nodded. "Right, let's do this."  
"Don't forget to cover your accent." Artie reminded her.  
She smiled. "Thanks."

As they moved up to the table, Mercedes jaw dropped on the floor. "Oh my goodness! I thought you two ran off together!"  
"That's a bit hard to do when you can't run." Artie grinned.  
Penny was a bit surprised at Artie's reaction. He seemed so natural. "Yeah, sorry. Long story."  
"I just happen to love long stories." Kurt folded his hands in front of him. "Do tell."  
"Well," Penny sighed, sitting down at the table. "It's not the good kind."  
Artie laughed. "You don't need to hide from them, Penny."  
Penny glanced over at him. He looked so sincere. Not dazed or confused like he had been since she woke him up at Hogwarts. He looked happy. This was where he belonged. How could she even think of taking him away from this?  
"We sort of snuck away." Artie said, leaning forward.  
"You did!" Kurt grinned. "Where to?"  
Artie waived a hand in the air, like it didn't matter. "Coney Island."  
"You guys went to an amusement park!" Mercedes laughed. "In winter?"  
It was Penny's turn for her jaw to drop. Did he just say that?  
"Yeah, her mom was cool enough to take us." Artie looked over at Penny and smiled. "It was a bit weird at first, but we had a lot of fun. Right Pens?"  
Penny noticed all the eyes on the group fall on her. Trying to gather some sense of togetherness, she nodded. "Yeah. Lots."  
"You devil, you!" Kurt said.  
"I can't believe you ditched school for Coney Island!" Mercedes giggled. "Wait until Mr. Schue hears about this!"  
"You can't tell him." Artie rolled his eyes like it was the most obvious answer. "He'd get mad we weren't at glee."  
"Of course he will!" Mercedes put her hands on her hips. "We've got Regionals coming up this very weekend and you two decide to take a detour!"  
"Oh no." Artie said sarcastically. "What would you ever do without the cripple?"  
Penny was completely blown away. Just a few minutes ago Artie wouldn't even talk, now he was joking around! He was acting like nothing had changed! Like he was still unable to move his legs! Like he hadn't just visited a school of magic! How could he possibly do something like that?  
"You alright, Penny? You look pale." Kurt asked.  
"I think we rode too many rides." Artie put a hand on her shoulder. "Wore her completely out."  
"Well, whatever you did, everyone is going to be glad you're back." Mercedes said.  
"Yeah." Penny frowned.  
"What ever happened to Brian?" Artie said, laughing.  
Penny snapped her head back up and looked over at Artie, terrified. How could he just ask something like that?  
"Brian?" Kurt thought about it, then laughed. "You mean that crazy death nut kid you brought to glee last month?"  
"He's in my science class." Mercedes groaned. "He always makes the most inappropriate comments."  
"What brought him up?" Kurt giggled.  
"Well," Artie looked over at Penny and smiled. "Turns out our little Penny has a bit of a crush on him."  
"What?" Kurt and Mercedes said at the same time.  
"Wait, I thought you two were... you know." Mercedes asked.  
"What?" Artie asked, looking innocent.  
Penny was floored. The complete turn around of Artie's actions was one thing, but for him to recall everything that happened and be able to act on it. What happened?  
"Oh, you embarrassed her." Kurt pointed and Penny, suppressing a laugh.  
"Oh, you thought her and I were together?" Artie shook his head. "Not many girls can handle me. I take that little extra something."  
Mercedes laughed, but Kurt was starting to notice how odd Penny was acting. He sat there looking at her for a while. The grin of his face faded away.  
"Anyway." Artie rolled his eyes. "When's your science class, Mercedes? We really need to get these two together."  
Mercedes shuddered. "He's too creepy for my taste."  
"Are you okay?" Kurt asked.  
Penny looked up to find him looking at her. She panicked, looking over at Mercedes and Artie, but they were involved in their own conversation and didn't notice. "I'm fine." She mumbled.  
"You don't look fine." Kurt scooted over closer to her.  
Penny's eyes flickered over to Artie. He was talking cheerfully, having a blast. He looked completely at home, and yet he was looking for one of the most powerful wizards on Earth. How could he do that?  
"I take it the whole 'Brian' thing wasn't necessarily true." Kurt said.  
"What?" Penny froze. Did Kurt figure it out? Did he know the whole time? Did he know Brian was a wizard? Did he know she was a witch? "Listen, Kurt, there's a good reason..."  
Kurt held up a finger. "You don't have to tell me. I know what it's like to be in love with someone that you can't tell."  
"In love?" Now Penny was lost. She took a moment to gather her thoughts together. "Oh! You mean-"  
"That you really like Artie." Kurt shook his head. "Trying to make him jealous with Brian? You should have at least found someone more realistic. Like Finn."  
"Finn?" Penny realized she hadn't heard what happened to him after what happened at his house. "I haven't seen him yet."  
"Don't change the subject." Kurt shook his head. "And he's out of school today. His cousin's funeral."  
His cousins funeral... they were going to have a funeral for Marcus? Penny withheld a groan. That was one of the stupidest things she'd ever heard. Death Eaters don't deserve recognition. Ever. Especially not when they die trying to kill others.  
"I can try talking to Artie if you'd like." Kurt offered.  
"Heh, no, no. That's fine." Penny blushed. How could Artie act so normal and cool while she was stuttering through everything?  
"Alright." Kurt shrugged, and changed the subject. "You excited for Regionals this weekend?"  
Penny allowed her mind to shift over for glee. It would just be one small conversation. Knowing the situation for Brian, she doubted she'd actually be able to compete anyway. By then she'd either be dead or back in the wizarding world. So she decided to allow herself one small conversation about glee. It was, after all, one of the biggest highlights she'd had in her teenage life.  
Just one, tiny little conversation wouldn't hurt.

* * *

**Sorry I didn't post last night! Things are starting to get crazy before the holidays! I should be able to write all this week though.**

**Also, I'm having trouble when I import stories. They arn't doing the breaks properly and I have to go through an manually change it all once it's uploaded. Anyone know how to fix that?**

**Thanks for reading!**


	19. Chapter 19

Penny was surprised to find herself actually enjoying school for a change. The muggle classes seemed interesting. Keeping an eye out for Brian in between classes made her feel like a sneaky spy from a movie. On top of it all, Artie was super friendly.

She wasn't sure what triggered it. It was probably the fact that he was back home and knew he could walk. She supposed it was a bit like her being a witch. She knew it, and it was amazing, but she couldn't tell anyone.

Just before the last class of the day, Penny found a parchment in her locker. It was from Ginny, telling her to meet her in the auditorium right away. Penny glanced around, then closed her locker and headed off towards Artie's locker. She wasn't going to go see Ginny without him. Now that he knew the truth about her, she wanted him to know everything.

"Penny, can I talk to you?"

Penny turned to see Finn standing just outside the chorus room door. She blinked, staring at him.

"Finn!" Penny gasped as she realized it was really him. Part of her felt like he was gone forever. "I thought you were at the funeral?"

Finn looked down at his shoes. "I was. I came back, though. Can we talk? In here?"

Penny bit her lip. "Well, I... have to meet a friend."

"Artie can wait a minute." Finn forced a smile. It made him look tortured.

She hadn't been talking about Artie, but the way Finn looked so upset she felt like she needed to talk to him. After all, it was sort of her fault that his cousin died.

Sighing, Penny gave in. "Alright." She stepped towards the door and Finn walked inside. Just as she grabbed the door to walk in herself, she heard Artie's voice from behind her.

"Penny!" Artie wheeled over towards her. "Where are you going? I thought we had to go meet-"

Penny cleared her throat, butting him off. She glanced quickly inside the room at Finn, who was standing over at the piano waiting for her. "I'm just going to go talk with Finn real quick."

"Finn?" Artie moved closer towards her, peering into the door. "Hey Finn!" He waved at him.

Finn waved back, but it was once again filled with that same pained look.

"Penny. We need to go now. It's important." Artie looked back at her.

Penny looked at Finn and frowned. "Artie, maybe later?"

Artie tugged on her sleeve. "It's about a special tattoo."

Well that peaked her curiosity! Penny raised an eyebrow, looking down at him. When Artie nodded in response, she knew she'd have to put Finn off.

"I'm so sorry, Finn. This is severely important." Penny said, stepping out the door. "I promise to catch you before glee!"

Artie was already wheeling down the hallway. Most of the kids were in the classrooms already, but the bell hadn't rang yet. Penny ran after him. If they were still out in the halls after the bell rang, they could get in trouble. Why would Ginny want to meet with them now? Had she found Brian already?

* * *

In the auditorium, Ginny was pacing up on the stage. When she saw Penny and Artie come in, her face lit up in relief. "Thank goodness! I was about to apparate into your classrooms! What took you so long?"

"I'm sorry!" Penny said, racing down towards her friend. "I saw this guy... a cousin of Marcus'. I was worried about him."

"We have a problem." Ginny said, sitting down so her feet dangled off the stage. "I haven't been able to locate Brian at all. I got his schedule from the office and-"

"How'd you manage to do that?" Penny gasped.

"Seriously?" Ginny tilted her head down at Penny. "I'm a witch. Give me some credit here."

Penny frowned. Using magic in the school wasn't something she thought wise, but this was Ginny after all.

"Anyway," Ginny shook her head. "I went to everything on his schedule and he's not there. I've overheard a couple of people mention him, but he's nowhere in his classes."

Penny looked over at Artie, who was sitting quiet again. "Artie, didn't Mercedes say she had a class with him?"

He nodded, but that was his only response. Penny wanted to pull him out of his chair and dance around the room with him just to cheer him up. Where did the sweet happy Artie that was just here 5 minutes ago go?

Ginny held out a paper. "It doesn't matter. I got his address. We'll go to his place. That's the best chance we have of finding him."

Penny frowned. "But regionals are coming up..."

"I have no idea what that means." Ginny said.

"Glee club is after school."

Ginny sighed. "I haven't even told you the worst part yet."

Penny folded her arms across her chest. "That would be...?"

Ginny reached down, touching her forearm. She didn't dare pull up her sleeve to expose the tattoo hidden beneath it. "My arm... it's starting to burn."

* * *

**A/N Sorry it's been a while! I was out of town. The story isn't dead, I promise! Sorry this chapter is so short, too. I hope to catch up with more soon, but the holidays are throwing me off.**

**Thank you so much for the reviews and faves and even the followers. It makes me happy to know people are reading this. Thanks again, and I hope you enjoy this incredibly short chapter.**


	20. Chapter 20

"What does that mean?"

Penny turned to look at Artie. She was a little surprised that he had spoken. Part of her realized she had forgotten he was even there.

"It means that something bad is going to happen soon." Ginny replied. "We need to go to Brian's house now."

"Why? What if that's what he wants us to do?" Penny said. "Like a trap."

"He knows you're a witch." Ginny said, jumping off the stage. "And if he found out you are back to school, he'll know you brought reinforcements. Do you really think hanging around a school full of muggles is the better idea? If he wages war here, it'll be devastating."

Artie flinched, but didn't say anything.

Penny thought about it for a moment. "He doesn't know we know about him."

"Maybe. Maybe not." Ginny shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe there are more wizards here. Maybe there are some squibs looking out for him as well."

"Squibs?" Artie scrunched his nose.

Penny put a hand on his shoulder. "Ginny, we can't leave the school unprotected."

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Seriously Pens, sometimes you just don't think things through. The Death Eaters are being called together. There has to be a reason for that."

"And people much more powerful than us are on it." Penny said. Her tone was a bit more harsh than she meant it to be.

Ginny scowled. "We have to go on the offensive here! If Brian kills someone else-"

"If he kills someone else it would be-" Penny stopped, her eyes widening.

"What?" Ginny asked. "Pens, what?"

"Finn." Penny whispered. Why hadn't she thought of it before? She spun on her heels and headed for the doors.

"Where are you going!" Ginny called after her.

"Watch over Artie!" Penny said, pushing through the auditorium doors out into the hallway.

* * *

As she raced down the halls, Penny realized she hadn't thought anything through very well. It all made a sick sort of sense. Marcus was Finn's cousin. That would make Finn know something about the wizarding world. But Finn had been so nice to her! She shook her head. No, Finn was innocent here. His cousin was evil, but Finn wasn't. Penny was sure of it. She skidded to a halt in front of the music room. The door was shut, and the light off inside.

Biting her lip, Penny placed her hand on the door handle. He was probably long gone. In class, or maybe even gone home. She wouldn't blame him. If he didn't know his cousin was evil, he was probably still devastated. After all, having a dead cousin who tried to kill you was hard to digest. Marcus did try to kill Finn, right? Of course. He had to. That's why he was at Finn's house.

Penny pushed open the door. Inside she heard the soft hum of wind through the air vents. Light from the hall drifted into the room, lighting only inches in front of her.

"Finn?" Penny's voice cracked as she quickly reverted back to her faked accent.

In the corner of the room, she heard a metallic clatter. The sound was so soft, it couldn't have been anything larger than a pen.

"It's just me, Penny." She stepped into the room, careful to keep the door open with her hand. She squinted into the darkness. "It's alright, Finn."

There was a sniffle from the darkness, but it didn't sound like Finn. It sounded like a girl.

Startled, Penny took a step back and put her hand on the wall, feeling for the light switch. When she found it, she flicked the lights on. Her eyes blinked as they adjusted. Behind a stack of chairs, she saw a black figure move slightly.

"Kurt?" Penny gasped. She ran over towards him, letting the door slam shut behind her. "Are you alright? What's wrong?"

Hiding in the corner, curled up in a ball with tears streaming down his face, Kurt looked away from her. "Go away." He muttered.

Penny couldn't believe it. She saw him only just moments before. She placed a hand on his knee. "Kurt, what is wrong?"

"Nothing!" He snapped, pushing her hand off him. "Get away from me!"

Penny fell backwards, shocked.

The door to the room opened. Penny looked over her shoulder to see Harry of all people looking into the room. Penny blinked her eyes several times. "H-Harry?"

"Where's Ginny?"

Penny shook her head. "I-uh... the auditorium... Harry what are you doing here?"

"Show me where that is!"

Penny looked over at Kurt. "Kurt, come with me, please?"

"Leave me alone." Kurt sniffed in reply.

"I'm not going to do that." She placed both her hands on his knees, gripping tightly. "I'm your friend. I'm not going to leave you alone when you are sad or hurt."

"Penny!" Harry looked over his shoulder. "This is an emergency!"

"South down the hall, turn right then it's the second set of doors on the left!" Penny snapped back.

"We need you too, Penny!"

Penny growled. Kurt still wasn't looking at her and Harry was practically begging her to go. She knew he was right. She needed to go with Ginny. If her tattoo was burning, the fight was coming to them whether they wanted it to or not. Maybe staying at the school was a bad idea.

"Go!" Penny looked back at Harry. "I'll be right there. I promise!"

She turned back to Kurt. "I have no idea why you are upset." She spoke quietly, holding onto his knees firm as he tried to push her away. "But I can promise you that I know something that will take your mind off whatever it is. And it's a secret that you can't tell anyone."

"Finn is dead!" Kurt spat out. As the words left his mouth, he realized that he actually said them, causing him to look away and cry harder.

Penny felt a chill run over her body. No, no see that wasn't possible. "But... no, what? He was just right here!"

Kurt shook his head over and over.

"Kurt!" Penny grabbed his shoulders. "Look at me! I need you to tell me exactly what happened!"

"He...he... one second..." Kurt was sobbing so hard Penny couldn't understand anything.

"Kurt." Penny softened her voice. "I promise I can help, I just need you to tell me what happened."

"You can't help!" Kurt yelled back. "He's gone!"

"How?" Penny asked, keeping her tone soft.

Kurt just shook his head.

She sighed. This was getting nowhere. It was time for something drastic. Penny took in a deep breath and dropped her fake accent. "Kurt, if you tell me what happened to Finn, it might help me stop a killer who is going after everyone in the school, including you. I was trying to find him undercover, but apparently that didn't work."

Kurt stopped crying, staring at her with wide unblinking eyes. "What?"

Penny bit her lip. She wasn't going to show him magic or anything, but if he at least thought she was some sort of authority. "I'm an agent undercover, trying to find a murderer. I need you to tell me everything about what happened to Finn. Something really bad is about to happen and I need to find him now."

"But... I...I-I...what?" Kurt shook his head.

At least he was confused enough to stop crying. Penny took that as a plus. "Tell me what happened with Finn."

"I came in here and one second he was standing here with some guy I've never seen before. Then there was this bright flash of light, and when the light faded, they were both gone."

Penny's throat felt dry. "What color was the light?"

"I don't know. Bright. White, I guess." Kurt rubbed his eye with the back of his hand. "Does that mean I'm dead?"

White. Not green, white. Apparating. Not murder, just apparating. Penny was so happy she leaned forward and hugged Kurt.

"He's not dead." Penny said, almost laughing. "He's not dead. I can find him. He's not dead."

"There was a light..." Kurt sniffed.

Penny shook her head, pulling herself back to look at Kurt. "He's not dead. It's okay. I know what happened."

"What happened?" Kurt asked.

Penny bit her lip. She didn't actually know. She just knew he wasn't dead. And this raised several more questions. Was Finn a wizard? If so, was he on Marcus' side? He did try and get Penny alone earlier. Oh no, what if he was evil after all? Penny felt her arms slack. No, no, not Finn. He was so nice! He couldn't be evil!

"I know where he is." Penny pulled all her strength together and jumped to her feet. She held her hand out for Kurt. "We need to go, now."

Tentatively, Kurt reached out and let her pull him up to his feet. "Where are we going?"

"We have to tell Ginny." Penny said, turning to the door. If Finn was evil, she knew where he was. And that meant Brian was there as well. "Then we are going to find Finn."

* * *

**A/N**

**Wow, it's been FOREVER! I'm so sorry! The holidays just got really crazy! I promise the story isn't dead! Thanks to all of you for R&R! I appreciated all the comments! There is action coming up, and since I've never really written a big fight like this before, it probably won't be fantastic. But I'll work at it! Thanks again!**


	21. Chapter 21

Penny and Kurt headed towards the auditorium. Kurt was heavily leaning on Penny for support, but she hardly noticed. All her thoughts were focused on Brian and Finn. If they apparated, they probably went back to Brian's house, knowing she'd follow. In a way, she was sure it was a trap, but there was nothing else she could do. At least Harry was here now. With Harry and Ginny, they might stand a chance against Brian. Unless reinforcements were called in. If that was the case, Penny didn't know what to do. All she knew was they needed to get over to Brian's house immediately

"Penny?"

Penny turned her head to see Mr. Schue half leaning out of a doorway to look at her. Penny felt her face turn red. After all, she was suppose to be in his class at the moment. "Oh, Mr. Schue, I'm so sorry. Kurt is sick here and I was just taking him to the nurse."

"That's in the other direction."

"I know, but see..." Penny struggled to think of something.

"I left my bag in my last class." Kurt piped up. "It has a certain medicine in it that I really need."

Penny nodded in agreement, all too happy Kurt spoke up.

Mr. Schue hesitated for a moment. "Alright, just... make sure you make it to practice after school. I can't have all four of you missing again."

"Of course." Kurt said. "We'll be there."

"Four?" Penny stood up straighter.

"Rachel's out sick again. At least you, Artie and Finn are back." Mr. Schue frowned. He glanced back in his classroom, then to them again. "See you after school."

Penny looked at Kurt, confused. "Sick again?"

"What?" Kurt asked. His cheeks were still red from crying. "Oh, she'd been out sick for a while. Something bad, I guess."

The thought processed in Penny's mind for a moment, then all the color drained out of her face. "Since... since Artie and I were gone?"

Kurt nodded his head. "It's been hard on the glee club."

Penny felt lightheaded and had to lean up against the wall to support herself and Kurt. The horrible thought of what Neville said earlier came back to her.

_"I-Pens... Marcus killed a girl."_

Penny pushed herself away from the wall. "We need to hurry."

"What's wrong?" Kurt asked.

Penny didn't answer. Instead she picked up her pace, pulling Kurt along with her.

* * *

When they reached the auditorium, Penny pushed open the doors with so much force they clanged loudly against the stoppers. "Guys! We have to hurry! They apparated and-"

Penny stopped dead in her tracks. With one swift movement she shoved Kurt behind her. Her entire body started to tremble. All thoughts of Rachel disappeared from her mind as she stared at the horrible scene in front of her.

On the stage stood Brian, wand extended. A small trail of red light lead from his wand to Harry, who dangled a few feet off the floor. He was writhing in pain, crying out. Penny recognized the curse, her own memory of the pain aching in her body. Behind Harry was Ginny, being held back by Finn. While Ginny struggled and screamed, Finn held on to her with a strength not possible unaided. Artie was no where in sight.

At the sound of Penny's entrance, Brian simply looked at her before going back to laughing at Harry.

"Stop it!" Penny screamed, taking a step toward the stage.

"Don't worry. You'll get your turn next." Brian laughed, keeping his eyes on Harry. "How amazing is this, though! The great Harry Potter, destroyer of Voldermort himself, withering like a fish on a hook!"

"Leave him alone!" Ginny cried out. Her wand lay on the floor, tossed to the side. Finn's unnatural grip around her waist and arms kept her in place.

"Finn?"

Penny turned to see Kurt looking towards the stage with wide eyes.

"Brought me another muggle?" Brian laughed. "They're so fun, don't you think?"

"Brian, you promised." Finn said, too quietly for Penny to hear over Harry's screams.

"Don't you dare." Penny pulled out her wand, pointing it towards Brian. "Put him down!"

In a swift movement, Brian dropped Harry to the ground and shot that all too familiar green bolt towards Penny. She deflected the bolt, sending it crashing off into the wall beside her. "Stupify!" A bolt of white light shot out of her wand.

Brian laughed, deflecting her spell. "Underage magic will get you in trouble, my dear."

"You're younger than me!" Penny growled. "Stupify!" She tried again.

Again, Brian tossed her spell aside with ease. "Please. Like those pathetic Aurors could trace me. Isn't that the beauty of being the son of one? I know all their tricks."

Harry groaned, sitting up. He rubbed his head. As the realization of what was going on hit him, he reached for his wand. But Brian was too quick for him. "Crucio!"

"No!" Penny flicked her wrist, trying to disarm the wizard again.

Brian dropped Harry once more to deflect Penny's attack. Realizing he was outnumbered, Brian turned to Finn. "We're leaving. Take her with us."

"But-" Finn started.

"Shut up, boy!" Brian snapped. He grinned over at Penny. "Why don't you come on over, and we'll finish this at my place?" He grabbed Finn's arm, and in a blinding flash of light, the pair of them and Ginny were gone.

"Ginny!" Penny cried out. She forgot all about Kurt and raced towards the stage. It was too late. Her friend was gone. She knelt down by Harry. He was conscious, but only just barely.

"Harry, you have to get up." Penny said. "They've taken Ginny."

"They apparated right behind us." Harry said, sitting up. He didn't look too good. "Took us by surprise. There was nothing we could do."

"I know." Penny put her head down. Why did she assume they went to Brian's house? Of course they'd go to Ginny. Harry was probably just a bonus to them. She leaned back on her legs and asked the burning question. "Where's Artie?"

"Who?" Harry paused for a moment. "The kid in the wheelchair?"

Penny nodded.

Harry shook his head. "He left just after I got here. Said he was going to find you."

Penny leaned back, confused. She hadn't seen him in the hall on the way there. "I have to go find him."

"We have to go get Ginny!" Harry snapped back. "We can't let them get away!"

Penny froze. She hadn't really hung out with Harry much, but she'd never seen him this angry before. It scared her. He was, after all, the boy who lived. "I can't... I can't leave him."

"I'll find him." Kurt spoke up, startling Penny. She'd forgotten he was there.

For the first time since she'd met him, Penny didn't trust Kurt. "You live with Finn."

"So?" Kurt asked, as if it didn't mean anything. "I've never seen him like this. He looked... tortured."

"But..." Penny started.

Harry stood up, slowly. He looked like he was still in pain. "Penny, we have to go now."

She glanced over at Kurt once more. The boy that had given her a makeover. The boy that sang with her the first day of glee. Kurt couldn't be evil. But she'd thought that about Finn, too. She shook her head. "I have to find Artie!"

"Penny!" Harry sighed.

Kurt put his hand up. "Listen, I know you don't think you can trust me, but I'll find him and keep him safe. I promise."

Penny frowned. "No questions? No fear? You just saw magic and you don't seem phased."

Kurt looked off to the side for a moment. "That's... something I can't really process right now."

Penny thought about it for a moment. He did see Brian apparate earlier, and she'd been the one to tell him she was a secret agent in charge of finding Brian. Maybe his muggle mind could only comprehend Finn looking distraught. Besides, she didn't have much of a choice.

"Fine. Take Artie to the park by his house, and don't you two dare leave there until I come get you. Understood?"

Kurt looked a bit confused, but nodded. "Glee club?"

Penny nearly laughed out loud. The thought of the club seemed silly at this point. "Now! Don't even wait for school to get out!"

Kurt jumped, then ran out the door.

Harry looked over at Penny. "To Brian's house then?"

She nodded. "He said to go to his place."

Penny held her hand out. Harry grabbed it, and the two apparated off the stage.

* * *

**I know, I know! It's been forever! I promise I'm still working on this! Thank you everyone for your kind words and support. I'll hopefully have another chapter up tomorrow night. I promise to finish this REALLY SOON! Toon in again next time, readers!**


	22. Chapter 22

When the two arrived at the address Ginny had told Harry earlier, they were surprised to find it empty. Not just void of people, but completely empty of everything. No furniture, no counters, not even any walls aside from the four main ones. Just...nothing.

"You sure this is right?" Penny asked.

"Doesn't look like a muggle or wizard home, does it." Harry replied. "Ginny!" He called out.

Penny walked over towards the edge of the house, near the only door. "I don't think they are here."

"Dammit." Harry sighed. "I was worried about that."

"What do you mean?" Penny turned to him.

"He said 'my place', remember?"

"Yeah." Penny looked around. "This is his house. Ginny got the address from the school."

"Exactly." Harry said, pushing his glasses up on his nose. "This is the address for the school. He's really living at Azkaban."

Penny's blood froze. She shook her head slowly. "No, no, no we can't...that's not right." She turned to the door. "Maybe they're outside."

"Penny." Harry grabbed her shoulder. "I don't like it any more than you, but we have to assume that's what he meant."

"Ginny said that place is crawling with dementors! And death eaters!"

"And great wizards."

"Imprisoned!" Penny pushed his hand off her shoulder. "We're no match for that alone!"

"I'll get the Aurors-"

"You heard him!" Penny snapped back. "He knows all their tricks!"

"We've been in worse situations." Harry's face darkened. "I've been in far worse."

"Harry, this isn't one powerful wizard, this is an army!"

"A quarter of the size of the one that took on Hogwarts!"

Penny flinched. The reminder of the war brought back images of her sister. She turned away. How many good people were lost in that war? How many lives ruined by the ones gone? She didn't think she had it in her to go through another was like that, even if it was a smaller fight. "I-I can't."

"Penny." Harry's voice softened and he placed his hand back on her shoulder. "We're running out of time. They have Ginny. And your parents. If we stop them now, they won't reach the muggles."

This brought thoughts of Artie to her mind. Poor Artie. Even if he could walk, he still wouldn't stand a chance against a death eater. Kurt better be taking care of him. Penny sighed. "We aren't prepared."

Harry gave her a half-smile. "Are we ever?"

Penny muttered a soft laugh. "Right."

"Go to Hogwarts and gather everyone up. I'll go get Kingsley and the other Aurors and meet you back in the Gryffindor common room. We can do this, Penny."

Penny nodded, but she didn't really believe him. Before she could change her mind, he apparated away, leaving her alone.

* * *

"Penny!" Neville exclaimed, wrapping her in an unexpected hug. "You're back!"

"We were afraid the Narwals had eaten your school." Luna said from behind him.

Penny's face was pale, but she spoke strongly. "We have to gather everyone up. They've taken Ginny to Azkaban again. Harry's getting the Aurors right now."

"What?" Neville gasped, leaning back. "Azkaban?"

Penny smiled as best she could. "What's a measly prison after you-know-who, right?"

"It won't be pretty." Luna replied in her dreamy voice. "But I suppose it's worth a shot."

"I'll go to the Room of Requirement and get whoever is there. Neville, Luna? Can you gather the rest and meet us in the Gryffindor common room?"

Luna nodded, taking Neville's hand. "Sounds like a plan."

"Wait, I don't know-" Neville protested.

"It's okay, Neville." Luna smiled. "We all knew this was coming."

Penny waved, and headed off towards the common room. She wish she'd stayed at Hogwarts. At least here she could have kept training. How long had it been since she studied magic? That could only hurt her. She winced. And all her friends thought she ditched them. She still remember how Marcus told her Ginny said she abandoned them. It wasn't true, but in a way, it was, wasn't it? She ran away. Granted, it was her mother's idea, but her mother was a simple muggle. If Penny had wanted to, she could have stayed. After all, Hogwarts was one of the safest places there was. Well, except during the war.

When she reached the common room, she found Seamus inside, reading. Hermoine was off to the side with Ron, and some first year Penny didn't know was sitting by the fireplace.

At the sight of the red-headed girl, Hermione gasped. "Penny!"

Ron glanced up. "You're back! Where's Ginny?"

Penny shook her head and raced over to them. "We have to gather everyone up. They've taken Ginny to Azkaban."

"Again!" Ron's hands tightened into fists. "Where were you to keep her safe?"

"Ron!" Hermione placed a hand on his fist. "What happened?"

"Brian tortured Harry, then he apparated away with Ginny. He said to meet him at his place. That's the only place he can mean."

Hermione frowned. "Yes, that's true."

"But Azkaban!" Ron sputtered. "Are you mad?"

"We don't have a choice." Penny said.

"No, we do." Hermione shook her head. "But it's the only good one."

"Hermione!" Ron gasped.

"Ron, we fought a war already!" Hermione said. "And what have we done since? Sat around and waited. No more. It's time we went after them."

Penny and Ron both stared, mouth agap, at Hermione.

"What?" Hermione said, getting to her feet. "Harry can't be the only one ready to take on the Death Eaters."

"That's my girl." Ron grinned.

"What's the plan?" Hermione asked, turning her attention soley to Penny.

"Room of Requirement." Penny shook her head, getting back on task. "Gather everyone we can here. We'll need all the help we can get."

* * *

Penny was surprised to find the Room of Requirement actually full. Mostly it was by a bunch of younger years that she didn't know or barely recognized. Still, they were there. And they were... training?

"What... what's this?" Penny asked as the trio passed a group of fourth years practicing disarming.

"You think just because you left we'd stop protecting ourselves?" Hermione flipped her nose ever so slightly up into the air. "Please, Penny. Don't think so little of us."

"After well, after everything started back up again, people just gravitated back here." Ron said, thankfully explaining things more plainly. "No one said anything, we just all sort of wound up here. And more and more came back everytime."

"It's ...amazing." Penny gasped, looking around at all the people. Not that she'd dare let them go into battle, but then again, who was she to decide. "We need to gather everyone who's willing to fight and go back to the common room."

Hermoine flicked her wand in the air, causing a loud peircing snap. The room fell silent. She cleared her throat. "This is it." Her voice was loud, but hoarse. She probably had as much trouble saying them as Penny did hearing it. "This is what we've been working towards. I know for most of you, the war's shadow is still too much for you to bear jumping into this. That, I understand. But know this - our friends, our family - they are dieing right now. We need to go help them. Now's the time."

She paused for a moment, then looked over at Ron.

Ron took the chance to jump in. "Gryphindor Common Room. For those that'll join us. Now."

Hermione nodded, then looked over at Penny.

Penny didn't have anything more to add. Half of her wanted to get her revenge on Brian. The other half wanted nothing to do with the war at all. The confliction was the only thing keeping her moving, which was strange. Usually it kept people from acting. But no. The Death Eaters crossed the line when they went to WMHS. They brought muggles into the mix. That was low, even for a Death Eater. Well, actually, no. That's exactly what a Death Eater would do.

Penny shook her head. She was thinking too much.

"Come on." Hermione took Penny's hand in hers. "Let go back upstairs and see how many come with us."

* * *

**A/N:**

**WOW! Ok, I know. Been forever. I actually lost the file for my story! ACK! So this is a complete re-write of this chapter. So sorry about that. Thank you SO MUCH for all the reviews and comments. It's the ONLY reason I keep writing this. Hopefully I can watch HP this week or something to re-motivate myself. Thanks again, and I hope to have the next chapter written by the end of the week!**


End file.
